Incomplete Tycho Circa 2001
by Epsilon Grey
Summary: An ancient species had been awakened. A civilization is waging war for its survival. The protectors of the Earth are called upon to aid them. But, are they strong enough? Two years later...I have decided to revist this world. Heavy revisions ahead...
1. Prologue

  
Tycho- The Last Stand  
  
  
  
"Goodbye, the future's sold out  
There's no use screaming  
Who'd thought we'd ever get this far?"  
-Our Lady Peace  
  
  
  
Prologue  
Rigel VII  
03.8.43  
2200 Hours  
  
His ribs were broken, he was sure of that. He could feel them pressing against his lungs, sending a crippling pain throughout his chest every time he drew a breath. He was moving as fast as he could, but it was no use. They were just too strong. He tried to remember how this had happened, how things could have gone so horribly wrong so fast, but the blows to his head were making it hard to think.   
  
He had lost contact with the rest of his team, but it didn't matter. He wouldn't have been able to communicate with them anyway. A kick to the neck made sure of that. With his vocal cords mangled, he wasn't even able to scream in pain. All he could do was try and survive, but even that was not likely to happen.  
  
Below him another battle raged, just as terrible and just as painful as his. He was able to catch glimpses of the scene under him as he tried in vain to dodge the series of punches and kicks thrown at him. Tracers were lighting up the night, crisscrossing and shredding the black with their brilliant reds and blues.   
  
Massive explosions from detonating artillery and HE grenades turned night into day, shaking the earth with a fury and intensity that only war could bring. Fightercraft added their share of noise and death to the fray, shredding the blackness with roaring afterburners and rocking the ground with cluster bombs and fusion warheads. He could feel the close air support tearing past him at incredible speeds, flying with precision to their designated targets. But they were still losing.   
  
He was sure now that most of his team was dead. He could no longer sense their energy. Another set of bone-shattering blows returned his attention to the matter at hand. Desperately, he launched a clumsy counterattack of his own that was easily deflected by the creature. It knew no fear. Once it had finished with this distraction it would return to its primary mission. It was nearly done.  
  
He found it nearly impossible to breath now, fragments of his ribs and sternum had punctured his lungs and he was coughing up blood. He was prepared to embrace his death when he saw her. She was in worse shape than he, not even attempting to dodge the assault that was destroying her body. He saw her golden hair was stained with her own blood, and her right arm hung limply from her body. Her energy was fading fast, her consciousness was not far behind.  
  
He could not let her die, not while he was still alive. With a sudden influx of power derived from his rage, he managed to evade his attacker and fly to her aid. He delivered a kick square to the side of the head of the alien, taking it by surprise and knocking it back a few feet. He turned to her and looked into her eyes. They knew this was the end. They fell into each other's arms, their golden and white auras meshing.   
  
The two aliens did not care what these creatures were doing. They wouldn't understand it even if they did. They reacquired their targets and continued the assault. The broken creatures were torn from each other's arms and dealt with. The female stared at her attacker, her body no longer registering the pain, and swallowed. The alien moved so fast she didn't even have time to register its movement. When its open palm smashed directly into her face, her world turned black.   
  
He saw her golden aura disappear, and watched her fall to the exploding earth. The alien moved in. It punched the soft creature directly in the gut, doubling him over in agony. Just before his consciousness slipped away, he took note of the brilliant scene below him. He could make out individual soldiers of his own side fighting their own losing battles. All he could think about was how sorry he was he couldn't save them. He never felt the final blow that shattered his white aura and drove him to the ground. The aliens, now sure that these hindrances could cause no further problems, returned to their primary objective.  
  
The sergeant saw the two warriors fall from the sky. He knew who they were, and knew they were the last. He also knew the battle was lost. There were just too many of them. The sergeant took note of where the warriors fell and turned back to his men. They too knew the end was near. But the sergeant had no intention of dying. Not today.   
  
"All right you sorry bastards, give me some cover fire!" he ordered. "Higgens, Yasta, Trina, Wervin, Thoth!"  
  
"Yes sir!" the marines turned to their leader.  
  
"We are not going to die here today, do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"We're going to save two lives and get the hell out of dodge, do you understand me? Now, we're gonna get our asses to grid C-321 where we're gonna call for an immediate extract. There are two people over there we owe a whole hell of a lot to. We're bringing them home."  
  
"Yes sir!" the marines shouted, their hearts filling with hope once again.  
  
"Okay, Yasta, Trina, cover our flank! The rest of you, we're gonna move in formation Tango-3! We will move on my mark! 3...2...1...MARK!"  
  
The marines rose from their position and began their move. Yasta and Trina laid down suppressing fire as the squad moved on. Their powered combat suits made moving much easier, allowing them to cover ground at amazing speeds. Their HUDs tracked the action around them, alerting them to dangers and targets. Their rifles were spitting fire and eliminating red blips from their screen. They could feel the ground rocking beneath them. When they reached their destination they beheld their objective.  
  
The two battered figures lay half dead about twenty meters from each other. The sergeant wasted no time in calling for the extract.   
  
"Actual Three Nine Bravo, this is Echo Eight Two Five, were are at grid C-231 and request immediate extract. We have Seraphim One and Three in immediate need of evac, over."  
  
"Say again Echo Eight Two Five, you have Seraphim One and Three, over?"  
  
"Affirmative Actual Three Nine Bravo, we need to get the hell outta here, over."  
  
"We read you. Evac en route. Hang in there, Echo Eight Two Five, over."  
  
"Roger."  
  
The Sergeant gathered the two bodies, one in each hand, and laid them down behind him. He ordered his squad to form a staggered defensive perimeter around them, and to keep them alive at all costs. So the battle raged, both sides taking horrendous losses, turning the surface of the planet into an artificial hell. The aliens, however, clearly had the upper hand.   
  
For every one that fell, ten more were able to takes its place. The only thing preventing the invaders from a quick victory was the defender's fanatical zeal. For them, there was no tomorrow, and that made them dangerous. The sergeant and his squad were among the last survivors, having to rely on their superior training and tactics to stave off the invaders.  
  
Just as he was popping in his last clip, the sergeant heard the unmistakable sound of a dropship approaching. Its thunderous engines could be heard for a mile around. The few remaining strike craft were directed to give suppressing fire around the LZ, causing the aliens to pause in their advance. Exploding munitions were rocking the ground so heavily that it was becoming difficult to stand, but the sergeant held his ground anyway.  
  
Once the dropship touched down and its ramp fell, he ordered his men aboard. He gave the two broken bodies to Thoth and turned to lay down some more cover fire. Just as Thoth turned to tell his Sergeant that it was time to get on board, he saw his leader's helmet get punctured by a few well-placed rounds. He fell to the ground as blood flowed freely from what was left of his head. Thoth had no time to mourn the loss of his mentor, and ordered the pilot to take off. The ramp retracted and shut, leaving the image of his dead leader permanently etched into his mind.  
  
Just before the sergeant saw the incoming rounds, he got the feeling that he was not going to leave this planet, but he didn't care. He had just given them a second chance at victory; his death meant little. Before his life was extinguished, his last thoughts turned to his wife and daughter, to whom he had given one last chance at survival. Now the future rested in the hands of Seraphim One and Three, and on their shoulders lay the hope of thirty billion souls. 


	2. The Briefing

  
"There is no reason good cannot triumph  
as often as evil. The triumph of anything  
is a matter of organization. If there are  
such things as angels, I hope they are  
organized along the lines of the mafia."  
-Winston Niles Rumfoord,   
Sirens of Titan  
  
"When the night has come,  
and the land is dark,  
and the moon is the only light we'll see,  
I'll be alright, just as long as you stand by me."   
-The Drifters  
  
1  
Tycho Shipyards, Tycho System  
10.19.43  
0900 Hours  
  
Sabre was his name, the only name he used, anyway. He never used a middle or last name; he liked to keep things simple. He stood at a modest 5'10, weighing in at 185 pounds, all of it muscle. His sandy brown hair and light blue eyes made his features appear pleasant and friendly, but there was a glow in his eyes that hinted at a far greater power lurking within him. He looked about 17 years old, but in actuality he was 25.   
  
"Colonel," a female voice chimed through the ship intercom, "we will be docking with the Agamemnon shortly."  
  
Lost in his thoughts, Sabre hadn't noticed the view in his porthole was filling up with the massive frame of the flagship of the Galactic Coalition. She was the largest space-faring vessel ever constructed. At ten miles long, she dwarfed the second largest ship, the Braxis, by over 8 miles. It had a crew of 850,000, sporting the most advanced weapons, communications, astrometrics, medical facilities, AI, and everything else that was in the realm of technology. The need for such a large warship had come due to the war the Coalition was currently engaged in.  
  
The Galactic Coalition was the greatest civilization in known history. It had existed for 750 years and had flourished and prospered through almost all of that time. It consisted of 250 colonized planets and over 65 billion citizens, including Nameks, Saiyans, humans, Thrakans, Vortan, Danti, and a handful of other races. What was common among them was the fact that all had been removed from their home planets and relocated to the five inhabitable worlds of the Coalition's home system, Tycho. No one knew why, nor how they were taken from their homes. All they knew was that the race that had brought them here was long gone. However, their technology was not.   
  
Each race was in still rather primitive and barbaric when they were brought to the Tycho system. Tens of thousands of each race were placed on the planets, left to fend for themselves. They remembered nothing of their journey nor of the beings that transported them. Each race was shocked to encounter each other, for each had belived they were unique in the universe. All had thought themselves the pinnacles of creation. They were wrong.   
  
Of all the races, the humans had the hardest time adapting. The other races were far stronger than them, and almost all of them were wiped out in various wars fought on each planet. Hundreds of years passed before the humans were finally shown mercy. By that time, each planets' inhabitants had managed to work the technologies left to them. When they took to the stars they realized there were four other colonized worlds in the system, each containing about the same ratio of species on them. It took another few hundred years of warfare to finally sow the seeds of what would become the Galactic Coalition. While humanity on Earth was in the dark ages, the Coalition was colonizing nearby solar systems and terraforming worlds.   
  
For the last two centuries, after the end of the AI wars, the galaxy had settled into a relative peace and things were progressing well. When the wars ended, the dissident artificial intelligences had been eliminated, and all future AI's were programmed with failsafes to ensure the AI's would not revolt again. In a compromise, the leaders of the Coalition had agreed to allow the AI's more freedom than ever before, including giving all androids full rights and privileges of organic beings. The AI's hadn't caused a problem since.  
  
The current war now was with the "Necrons" as they were dubbed because of their solid black ships and troops. Just like out of a science fiction novel, no one knew who they were, or where they came from, they simply seemed bent on destruction. When they found a planet with life on it, sentient or not, they either bombarded it until it was a barren wasteland, or they invaded it. Either way, in the end, all life would be extinguished. The war was not going well. The Coalition was losing.  
  
Sabre was on his way to the flagship to finalize the plans for the Coalition's last stand at a planet known as Gargantua. Gargantua was the largest planet in the known universe. According to the laws of science, a planet with that much mass should collapse on itself and become a sun or black hole. (For comparison, the planet was as large as Pluto's orbit around the sun.) The only thing bigger than this planet was the sun it orbited around. X-395, the name of the sun, was twice the size of the planet. How either of these two objects could exist could not be explained by science. The planet was so big that it had ten-year days and ten-year nights. When the sun set and rose on the planet, it was said to be one of the most beautiful sights in the universe. This planet had no moons, but scientists speculate that perhaps by some freak of nature that the planet had absorbed its moons, thus increasing its size, but that was just pure conjectureS.   
Its massive size had generated gravity distortions powerful enough to rip holes in space-time.   
  
These phenomena, known as jump points, were found naturally in the universe, but around this planet, there were an unusually high number of them. Normally, the amount of jump points was relative to the given area of a system. A larger sector may have two or three jump points. The few million kilometers around Gargantua had eight.   
  
Already, over seven billion lives had been sacrificed in the Necron war. Those were just the military's confirmed losses; civilian causalities were thought to be three times that. The situation was grim. The Coalition had lost sixty-five percent of its prewar territory and half of its operational forces. Gargantua was their last bastion of hope. That was why they need him for a mission.   
  
When he heard the airlocks cycling, Sabre stood up and proceeded to the exit of the shuttle. He was the only passenger aboard. Two young lieutenants met him at the gate and escorted him to a transporter pad. The ship was so massive that transporters were needed to move around the ship efficiently. He silently hoped to God that the lieutenants were not a representation of the entire crew; they looked as if they had just stepped foot out of the Academy.   
  
Sabre took up position in the middle of the pad. One of the Lieutenants joined him, the other activate the console. A glowing blue light surrounded him and the next thing he knew he was on the bridge of the Agamemnon. Now, Sabre could have used his instantaneous movement to get there just as fast, but he had no idea where the hell the bridge would be on this behemoth.  
  
"Colonel!" greeted the captain, "we're glad you're here. Please, come into the conference room, everyone is waiting."   
  
The captain was a Saiyan female, who looked to be about thirty or so. She was a good two inches shorter than him, and wore the standard captain's uniform of the Galactic Coalition, with the addition of various medals and ribbons signifying that she damn well had the experience necessary for this command. He followed her well muscled frame to the conference room and saw that all the remaining leaders of the Coalition were present. After he took his seat, General Vastu, the official leader of the Coalition's armed forces, spoke up.  
  
"Time is brief, so I must dispense with the pleasantries. Colonel, we have outlined a plan that should hold back the Necrons, at least for a little while. Why you are here will be explained shortly." Admiral Gridden, CINCCOMSF (Commander In Chief, Combined Space Forces) began the briefing. A large, three-dimensional picture of Gargantua appeared on a holopad in the middle of the conference table.  
  
"As you all know, we are making our final stand here, at the planet Gargantua. We are currently in full retreat from the main battle line in the Corprulu system. Elements of the 3rd, 9th, and 11th fleets will stay behind to buy us some time. For them, it is a suicide mission, they know this."  
  
Sabre recognized that the fleet elements remaining were all-Sayjin regiments. He knew that they would put up one hell of a fight.   
  
  
"Our remaining forces will assemble in orbit above the planet. This group will consist of all the combat forces we have left. It will stand at 31 carrier groups with full fleet escorts. As we speak, our Army and Marine Corps are digging in fortified positions on the planet. We are centering them at this point here," the admiral gestured to a flashing red blip on the image. It was just above the equator.  
  
"The gravity on the planet is highest there, at about 60 times standard gravity. It is the most strategically viable point to defend because they will have to come to us. Hopefully, they'll waste some energy before they hit our MLR (Main Line of Resistance). What's left of our ground forces are all on the planet."  
One general spoke up  
  
"But sir, what will prevent them from simply unleashing an orbital bombardment?"   
  
It seemed like a logical question.  
  
Gridden responded. "We have set up enough AA weapons to shoot down any bombs that they throw at us. If anything tries an atmospheric penetration for 5,000 miles around the base, it will be ripped to shreds before they even know what hit them. Our main concern is the beam weapons and the soldiers."  
The admiral addressed the former first.   
  
"We are going to implement a large-scale planetary shield system, as is common on all of our inhabited planets. As you know, the Necrons' beam weapons only require a few seconds of concentrated fire to break through them."  
  
This was known all too well. Thousands of colonies had been destroyed already, the shields providing little hindrance to the Necron invaders.   
  
The admiral continued. "Our R&D has developed a new type of shielding that absorbs more energy than it reflects. Hopefully, if this technology works as it is supposed to, the more power they throw at it, the stronger the shields will become."  
  
Everyone shifted in their seats. This technology had been in development for years, but it was projected that the Necrons would wipe out the Coalition before the technology could be implemented.   
  
"As you know, our space forces are roughly equal in strength. This is perhaps the only bright spot in this whole god-awful mess. That leaves only the ground forces. This is where you come in Colonel. You are going to have a new outfit at your command."  
The colonel felt it necessary to point out the obvious.  
  
"What the hell good is that going to do? We all know even I can't take on their cyborgs." He found that out the hard way.   
  
Early in the war, Sabre was the commander of a special ops unit, the 51st Goliaths. Their job was to drop in behind enemy lines and disrupt communication and supply routes. All went well in the beginning. His squad was comprised of the strongest fighters in the Coalition, and each had special training with some kind of technology. The first twenty missions went off with out a hitch. Then things changed. They ran into Necron cyborgs that were more powerful than they could have imagined. Only two of the 15-member unit survived, himself included.   
  
"If all goes as planned, which it probably won't, we have about 5 months before the Necrons hit Gargantua. You and your outfit will train until then." The Admiral hesitated.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
He drew his breath and continued. "We have something to ask you. This war has forced us to make breakthroughs in areas of science we were reluctant to tread in before. Bioengineering is one of them. Would you agree to being...altered?"  
  
Sabre paused for a moment. "Well, sir, if its to save the universe I don't have much of a choice. But exactly what will be done to me? I don't want four eyes and a third arm."  
  
Gridden was relieved. "Don't worry, it will be nothing that dramatic. A full report is available for your reading on the matter."  
  
"Fine then. You mentioned I was going to have a new unit?"  
  
"Yes. It will consist of yourself, Colonel D'Jana, and nine others you will meet and recruit in a days."  
  
Colonel Resa D'Jana was Sabre's best friend. They had been friends since childhood, and she was in his previous outfit. They were the only ones who survived. He was a bit skeptical of who his new subordinates would be, because his men were the best of the best.   
  
"I have to recruit them? Are they new graduate recruits or are they Androids?"   
  
"Neither. They are not from around, for lack of a better term, here."  
  
"Okay," Sabre responded, "where am I going to find them?"  
  
"I think you will be most pleased with where you are going."  
  
"Oh yeah, where's that?"  
  
"Earth."  
  
The Admiral continued the briefing, but Sabre didn't hear a word. 


	3. The Visitor

2  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1300 Hours  
  
Goku watched in amazement as his son beat the living crap out of Cell. He was glad that his decision to send Gohan to fight had worked. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if it hadn't. Actually, he wouldn't have lived too long to regret it anyway.  
  
The rest of the Z fighters stood in awe as well. Their battered figures followed the lightning fast movements of the combatants as best they could. Each was hoping against hope that this would end soon, for Gohan was taking his time, and that was making things risky.   
  
Suddenly Gohan delivered a blow to Cell's stomach, and the villain cried out in agony. Everyone noticed a change in cell, as he seemed to be growing weaker, but he also looked about to vomit. When he did, to everyone's surprise, especially Krillin's, he regurgiataed Android 18.   
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" Cell cried out.  
  
Gohan's response was the murder in his eyes. He was about to deliver another crushing blow when all of a sudden, he felt another power level approaching. It wasn't all that great, only a little bit stronger than Piccolo, but it was enough to make Gohan reconsider his actions. The pumped-up Saiyan raised his hand and faced Cell. The realization of what he was about to do hit the monster as his hand began to flash. Cell's eyes widened in terror as the huge yellow blast enveloped him, obliterating him completely.  
  
Once the action was over, Gohan turned to his surprised friends.  
  
"Do you guys feel that?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah! Way to go, man, you just killed Cell!" Krillin shouted in joy.  
  
The others began to join in until Piccolo called them to attention.  
  
"Wait, Gohan is right. Something is approaching."  
  
The shouts of joy died down as the warriors took notice. They looked around to see if they could discern from where it was approaching from, but it felt like is was surrounding them.  
  
Yamcha was nervous. "Hey guys, you feel that? It feels like it's all around us."   
  
"Yeah, that is weird," Goku said. "I wouldn't worry about it though, I'm sure whoever it is Gohan can handle it. Besides, whoever it is isn't much stronger than Piccolo. No offense." He assured the Namek.  
  
"None taken."  
  
Suddenly, a figure clad entirely in white dropped from the sky and landed in front of Gohan. Gohan was actually surprised and took a step back. All of the warriors turned their attention to the unexpected visitor. He was fairly tall, about Yamcha's height, and wore an outfit similar to that of Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha, except that is was solid white. He bore no symbols on him, save for a an insignia on his chest just above his heart. The letters GSO were discernable, with some type of foreign rank below them, all set on a background of an unfamilar star system.   
  
But the demeanor of the stranger changed rapidly. His pleasant expression was replaced with a frown. His eyes fixed upon something behind Gohan, but clearly there was nothing there. He grew tense and his breathing increased, he clenched his fists and spoke.  
  
"So, you followed me here."  
  
Everyone wondered who this guy was talking to. They were silently wondering to themselves if was a little crazy.  
  
"You are not leaving this planet," the stranger said icily.  
  
Before anyone had a chance to pose a question, the young man began an awesome transformation. His hair flashed to a brilliant white and stood straight out from his head. His eyebrows changed color as well. His eyes seemingly disappeared and were replaced with glowing spheres of energy. His muscle mass increased three times in size, making him look much more formidable. The Z warriors went into shock when they felt his power skyrocket. He was definiately stronger than Gohan. A lot stronger.  
  
They were even more surprised to see a large black figure appear behind Gohan. It was nearly impossible to view it and get any detail, it seemed to be absorbing the light itself. It ignored Gohan and leapt at the glowing stranger. They moved so fast that no one could track their movements. If they were able to keep up, this is what they would have saw.  
  
The stranger took a fighting stance and began to deflect the blows launched at him. When he dodged a roundhouse kick by the alien he made his move. He side-stepped the kick and sent a feroious punch to its gut. He pulled back and kicked the alien in the side of the head knocking it a few feet to the left. Before the black creature could recover he blurred behind it, took its head in his hands, and twisted. A dull crack was heard, then it fell to the ground, apparently lifeless. But the stranger knew better. He stepped back from his fallen adversary and lowered his hands, palms facing the creature. Glowing balls of energy began to gather around his hands, merging with a larger one inbetween them. Bolts of blue lightning crackeld around him, signifying a power-up.   
  
After a brief charge, he let go a tremendous blast, insanely powerful, yet entirely focused on the body before him. A small crater was all that was left. The entire set of events took place in three seconds. When it was over, the stranger powered down and turned back to Gohan.   
  
"Uh, that wasn't the introduction I had hoped for. Relax, I'm here to help." he assured him. Gohan looked a bit suspicious.   
  
"Wh-, who are you?" asked the young Saiyan.  
  
"I want to be a friend."   
  
Sabre thought to himself, "Hmmm.... the boy is much stronger than I anticipated, he must have reached a new level of power. Those Saiyans really are something. This is good, they will need to become as strong as possible." He then turned his attention to Android 18.  
  
"She looks pretty bad." he observed, "do you have anywhere we can take her? We're going to need her."  
  
After a moment of stunned silence, Vegita, always the diplomat, spoke up. He was even more furious than usual, now that another being had surpassed him in strength.  
  
"What do you mean we? Who the hell do you think you are?"  
  
Sabre laughed. "You must be Vegita. Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I need your help."  
  
"How do you know my name?" Vegita asked.  
  
"I know who all of you are."  
  
Tien inquired, "Why should we trust you? How do we trust some alien who ju..."  
  
Sabre interrupted him, "I'm not exactly alien, I'm human."  
  
"There's no way that can be possible! If you were human, we would have felt your power at some point!" Krillin shouted.  
  
"Just because I'm human doesn't mean I'm an earthling."  
  
A few moments of silence passed, then Goku got an idea.   
  
"Hey everyone, why don't we all go to the Lookout place? We can settle it all there."  
  
Piccolo stopped them. "Hold on Goku! This is what really pisses me off about you, you're too damn trusting! How do we know he won't just kill us all? You felt his power, it's even greater than Gohan's! And did you see that thing that followed him here? We don't even know what that was!"   
  
"Relax Piccolo, he just did us a favor. Obviously, we are dealing with something completely strange to us. Let's just hear him out, okay?" Goku responded.  
  
Everyone looked around, and then Trunks, silent until now, offered his opinion.  
  
"I think we should trust him. He's definitely different, but I don't think he's evil."  
  
Vegita slapped him upside the head. "Who asked for your opinion, boy?"  
  
Sabre settled the matter himself. "Alright you guys, I'll make this easy on you. I'll take android to Kami's place. You guys can follow me if you want, and yes, I do know where the lookout is." With that he took off, trailing a white streak across the sky.  
  
"Hey! Hold on!" Goku shouted. All of the Z warriors took flight and pursued this new mystery character.  
  
Sabre reached the tower quite awhile before the others, since they were still hurting from the battle they just barely managed to survive. Gohan powered down from SSJ2 and stayed back to help his father along. When they all finally arrived, Sabre once again began the conversation.  
  
"Wow, you guys look like hell," he said a bit awkwardly.  
  
The warriors were silent, not quite sure what to make of the comment.   
  
"Tough crowd." he realized it would take some finessing to win these guys over. If you guys take these, I'm sure you'll find yourself feeling much better." He held out his hand, revealing seven white pills.   
  
The group of warriors just looked at each other, not exactly sure what this guy was planning. He carried 18 over and placed her on the ground right in front of Krillin, who would later swear that he winked at him.  
  
"These pills are similar to the senzu beans you all are so fond of. Just swallow them, and you'll be in tip-top shape once again."  
  
"How do we know those things aren't poisonous?" Piccolo asked.  
  
"I'm not here to hurt you guys. And besides, I wouldn't need poison anyway..."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Just take the pills."  
  
Slowly, each of the Z warriors took a pill and swallowed it. Krillin took two and fed one to the unconsious 18. After each had consumed the pill, a yellow aura briefly surrounded each of them, showing that their strength and power had been restored.  
  
"Now how do you guys feel?"  
  
"Hey, thanks!" said Goku   
  
"Wow, cool." Yamcha commented  
  
"I guess you guys want to know who I am, and what I'm doing here, right?" Everyone nodded their heads. "Okay, this is going to be a long story, so bear with me. My name is Sabre. That is all you need call me. I come from a galaxy a few hundred light years from here, and I represent the Galactic Coalition. This coalition comprises of various races, most of whom are unfamiliar to you. There are Nameks, a handful of humans, Thrakans, Ju'itsi, Braxons, and a few dozen others. But there are a few Saiyans here and there." Sabre ended there, anticipating Vegita's interjection.  
  
"That's impossible! Kakkarot and I are the only full-blooded Saiyans left! You are a filthy liar!"  
  
"Don't get your panties in a twist Vegita. There really are Sayjins out there besides you two. They weren't on Vegita when Frieza blew the planet up. In fact, they weren't even born on the planet to begin with." Sabre began his narrative. "You see, a really long time ago there was an ancient race of collectors called the Amnae. They went about the universe collecting various life forms and relocating them in different galaxies. No one knows why, they just did. Yeah, I know, it doesn't make any sense. Humans, Nameks, Saiyans, and a whole lotta others ended up on planets in this one solar system. Now it happens to be the current headquarters of the Galactic Coalition. Now the reason I need you guys is quite simple, we are losing a war with a rather bitch-nasty race of aliens we call the Necrons. The one I just disposed of back there is one of them Besides me and my team, you guys were the strongest fighters outside of our Coalition."  
  
"Why do you need us? You seem to be quite capable of defeating these "Necrons" all by yourself. You certainly put that thing in its place." Piccolo said.  
  
"The one that followed me here wasn't all that bad, just a low-grade assasin. But I'm not strong enough to take on their best fighters. They have these cyborg monstrosoties that are stronger than me. I was able to hold off their standard fighters quite easily, but then they let loose a bunch of their cyborg creations, and I had the living shit beat out of me. I barely was able to escape alive. We first met these cyborgs on Rigel Seven. By we, I mean me and my team, the 51st Goliaths. My unit was made up of the best of the best, and I trained each of them myself. They were more or less equal to you guys in power. Each person in my team had a special ability. Some were techie geeks, others had powerful area suppression techniques, etc. When the cyborgs came...only me and Resa made it out alive. It was horrible."   
  
While Sabre spoke he visibly was becoming saddened, he turned his head down, and tears formed in the corner of his eyes.   
  
"Now, I need you guys to be my new team. You guys will join me and Resa. We have to beat these Necrons, or, or they'll be nothing left of the Coalition."  
  
"Whoa! Hold on a second! If you and your team couldn't handle them, what makes you think we can?" Krillin asked rather shakily.  
  
"Well, that's the fun part. We're going to train. Each of you have a weakness that we need to eliminate. For example, Vegita's is his arrogance, yours and Yamacha's is self-doubt, Goku's is his forgiveness and so on. I've also noticed that you three," Sabre pointed at Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien, "are significantly weaker than the rest. Don't worry about it, I'll train you personally."  
  
"There's no way we're gonna get as powerful as you, we can barely keep up with the other guys!" Yamcha cried  
  
"See, there's that self-doubt. You are your own worst enemy. Let me tell you something. I am a full-blooded human, just like you guys. Anything I can do, you can do."  
  
"What makes you think we'd even consider helping you and your stupid Coalition. Why the hell should we care what happens to you and your silly pissant galaxy?" Vegita challenged.  
  
"Why, that's quite simple. If you don't help me now, it's only a matter of time before the Necrons reach this quadrant. One of them was already here. It only took me a week to reach here by standard faster-than-light travel. I didn't use my Instant Transmission because I didn't know the exact location. But I'm sure they'd find out real quick. Then you and your friends will probably hold of the first wave of Necrons until the cyborgs show up, then you will die. All I'm doing is offering a chance to live."   
  
Vegita simply grunted and turned away.   
  
"Now, we don't have to leave right away, I'm sure you guys want to talk it over, so I'll go fly around for awhile. I've always wanted to see what this place looks like. I'll be back in, oh, say, three hours. That should be enough time for you to reach you decision."  
  
No one said anything else, and with that Sabre nodded his head and shot off, once again leaving a brilliant white trail in his wake.  
  
Tien whistled. "Wow. You guys, I'm not sure what should we do."  
  
Krillin opined (yes that is a word, think of it as an opinion), "Well, I'm still not sure we can trust him. It might be a trap."  
  
"But you guys, if he wanted to hurt us, why didn't he do it already. He could've easily killed us all, but instead he healed us." reasoned Gohan.  
  
"Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with Gohan, but this is all so sudden. This guy literally shows up out of nowhere and asks us to fly off into the galaxy with him." said Trunks.  
  
"What do you think?" Piccolo asked Goku.  
  
"I'm not sure. I think we can trust him, but we still need to find out more about him and these "Nercons" we're supposed to fight."  
  
"Necrons," corrected Gohan.  
  
"Right. Anyway Gohan and I are gonna go to Master Roshi's. I'm going to have to talk to Chi-Chi about this, and I don't think she's going to be thrilled."  
  
"Well, I guess I'll go back to Capsule Corp. and talk to my mom." Trunks said.  
  
"Hey Goku, I'm gonna stay here and look after 18. She's still unconscious and is going to need someone to explain what's going on," said Krillin.  
  
"I guess me and Yamcha will go with you, then." Tien added  
  
"Well?" Goku asked Vegita and Piccolo  
  
"Well what, Kakkarot? I'll be around. Don't bother finding me, I'll find you." Vegita then promptly shot off into the horizon leaving a blue streak in his wake.  
  
"I'm going to stay here and talk to Dende about this whole god-awful mess. And besides, we have to undo the damage Cell did to the Earth. We'll summon the dragon and bring back everyone that monster killed."   
  
Goku announced the plan. "Alright guys, I guess we'll meet back here in three hours."  



	4. Weakness

3  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1485 Hours  
  
  
Sabre was glad to be home. His mind was troubled over the asassin that had followed him here, but after a while his mind began to drift to other things. He had always heard stories about the Earth, and was anxious to actually go there, but things had always gotten in the way. Finally, it was the Necron war had brought him here, to the cradle of his species.  
  
Statistically speaking, Earth wasn't very impressive. It was rather small, with low gravity, only had about six billion people on it who were pretty pathetic fighters. Since the Earth hadn't bred and fighters worth mentioning, it had been left alone, isolated in its tiny sector of space.  
  
Fighting strength was the standard of comparison used by most races. The ancient race that took his ancestors from here saw a great potential in the humans while no one else did, not even the humans themselves. No one ever gave them a second thought. The physically weak, short-lived, and small humans were generally regarded with contempt among the other races, but Sabre had broken that stereotype, big time.   
  
He had trained himself the best he could, but was always one step behind, physically at least, at the Academy. He was definitely very smart, but no one cared since he couldn't keep up with the Sayjins and the Thrakans. Once the Sayjins went SSJ and the Thrakans hyperdyned, he didn't stand a chance. He began to remember the day that all changed...  
  
  
Polaris, Aphea System  
05.16.34  
1522 Hours  
  
  
Resa easily dodged his kick and nailed him in the chest, sending him back a few yards. He became angered that this small Sayjin girl could beat him so easily if she wanted to, and was holding back so as not to accidentally kill him. He had nothing against her, but it was his own inferiority that drove him mad. He threw a punch directly at her face, which she deflected and then returned the favor. The human barely had time to react and took the blow full on. Blood ran from the side of his lip and his face was twisted with anger. He powered up again and launched a flurry of ki blast at her, all of which she dodged with a smile.  
  
"Missed me!" she mocked.  
  
He then charged at her, sending a roundhouse at her head. She grabbed his foot and flipped him so his stomach was facing the ground, then nailed him in the back with her elbow. He hit the ground with a dull thud, and Resa followed him. She helped him up gently and walked him over to the nearby rest area. All around others were training in the Academy arena, bright flashes of gold and red and green where the Thrakans and Sayjins and a few Nameks were fighting.  
  
"I told you, I don't like to fight you when I'm a Super Sayjin, it's hard for me to hold back enough power."  
  
"Don't worry about it," he said. He then tried to laugh, but that just sent jolts of stabbing pain all through out his body. "I know what I'm getting into. Don't be sorry. I'm tired of everyone being sorry for me."  
  
Resa was actually one of the stronger Sayjins who held back her training in order to help him. When not in SSJ she had short, jet black hair, and the most stunning green eyes he'd ever seen. Resa had a beautiful face and the prettiest smile he'd had the pleasure to lay his eyes on. She was just a hair shorter than him, and had a nicely toned body. Right now her muscles were bulging, filled with the power that Super Sayjins naturally possess, and he longed for that power. Not because he wanted to abuse it and just flaunt it to show how tough he was, but so he could actually help out. He wanted to be the best so he could be the protector, not the protected. She handed him a pill, similar to a senzu bean, and that healed him up real quick.  
  
"Do you want to go again?" she asked.  
  
"No, I'm just holding you back, go and train, I'll be alright."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, just go."  
  
"Okay." she sighed. She knew not to press him, because it just made him sadder. She kissed him on the forehead and flew off to join the massive melee going on around him. It was their third year in the Academy, Sabre was 16, as was she. They loved each other, but they would not admit to themselves it was anything more than sibiling-like. Time would prove otherwise, however. They had grown up together, and when they were not sparring they would be found in the parks and movie theaters just hanging out. They had entered the Academy together, roughly at the same level, but she rapidly progressed faster than he did, and once she went SSJ, he was left in the dust.  
  
He left the arena in order to go think. He had been doing a lot of that lately. He knew there had to be some way to get stronger, because he had reached a plateau, and could not ascend any higher. He peaked at a power level of 45,000,000 whereas Resa and the other Sayjins and the Thrakans were at about 115,000,000 and rising. He knew the Sayjins ascended through emotions such as rage and loss, whereas the Thrakans ascended through meditation.   
The Thrakans were definitely an interesting race. On average, they were about six feet tall, and had a light red tint in their skin. This tint turned bright red when they hyperdyned, the equivalent of going SSJ. Their eyes glowed red as well. They resembled humans and Sayjins, but like the Nameks they had different color striations on their muscles. Unlike the Sayjins who tended to be cocky and aggressive, the Thrakans were quite and reserved.  
  
Then there were the humans. In the Coalition, they numbered the fewest, only about ten million out of the fifty billion who were part of it. The Sayjins had about fifteen million, but the Thrakans were the majority by far, making up about twenty five billion. The rest was made up of other races, but the Thrakans and Sayjins and a handful of Nameks were the only true warriors in the Coalition. He had tried to change that stereotype by entering the Academy, but so far it wasn't working out.  
  
He flew down to the nearby beach and began to walk its enormous coastline. He was the only one there, since everyone was either training or working on the space dock in orbit. The planet the Academy was located on was called Polaris, and the only things located on the planet were the Academy and Space Dock Alpha high above in orbit. The planet had no residents save for the trainees and instructors, so as the trainees would not be distracted in any way. This left the rest of the planet devoid of technology, making it one of the most beautifully preserved planets known.  
  
He would often walk the coastline in order to think, and his thoughts consisted only of getting stronger, and of Earth. His parents talked of it as if they had lived there, when in actuality no one directly related to him had seen the planet in over five hundred years. He wondered what it was like, and if his fellow man had discovered the secret to unlock the potential he knew that humans had to possess. If all the other races had the ability to ascend to much higher levels, surely the humans had to be able to as well.  
  
Night was falling and he wondered how Resa was doing. Technically, he was only there for the academic courses, so he had no obligation to train. This entire week was a break until next semester studied, so he could basically do as he pleased. The stars thoughts drifted away from training and the academy and he focused on the twinkling began to shine, and he became fascinated with them as he did every night. Eventually his points of light in the sky. The subtle sound of the ocean breaking on the shore lulled him into a pleasant tranquility. He knew that actually most of the stars were dead, and their light was just reaching the planet, but he didn't care, it didn't detract from their beauty.  
  
At about 10:30 Resa found him on the beach as she always did, he was half-asleep, gazing into the heavens above. She felt so sorry for him, always training, pushing himself, but it was evident he was getting nowhere. She knew he didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him in the least, but her feelings for him couldn't be helped.  
  
"Hey there stranger." she said, "You didn't come back, so I'd figure I'd find you here."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You should've seen Vicha today, he was trying to perfect one of his crazy attacks when it accidentally went off and hit Coach Vela. Boy was he pissed."   
  
"Vicha, oh he's a card alright. What'd Coach do?"  
  
"He smacked him around a bit then put him on KP duty for a month."  
  
"Oooh, that sucks."  
  
They ended the conversation there and Resa sat beside him, her hair fluttering about in the wind. He looked into her eyes and saw the very stars that were in the sky.  
  
"Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?"  
  
"Yeah, you, only about 10,000 times."  
  
"Well, this makes it 10,001."  
  
He turned his attention back to the sky and wondered if he would ever be as great as he wanted to be.  
  
"I know what you're thinking."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You still wanna get stronger, don't you?"  
  
"You know me too well."  
  
"I, I wish I could help you, I really do. To see you trying so hard, it, it just kills me."  
  
"Look," he returned his eyes to hers, "I know you want to help, but I'm just not strong enough yet. I think I'm beginning to realize that I may just grasping at straws. It's not gonna happen."  
  
"Oh, don't say that!" she chided, "Everyone respects and admires you for what you're doing, you've pushed us all to go further than we thought we could, because you did yourself. Just because you aren't as strong as the rest of us doesn't make you any less great."  
  
"You guys really don't need me. You would have gotten as strong as you are even if I wasn't here. Have you notice that you're the only one who even talks to me? No one even knows I exist. Me, my people, I just don't think we are cut out to be warriors."  
  
"I don't believe that. Just because everyone is too proud to get to know you, it doesn't mean they don't notice you. They'd never admit it, but everyone in that building admires you to some degree. In your heart, you are the strongest fighter I've ever known, It's what's in your heart that counts."  
  
"That's the problem, only in my heart am I a great fighter. Only in my heart."  



	5. Transformation

4  
6.28.34  
2300 Hours  
Polaris, Aphea System  
  
The weeks came and went, and he tried his damndest to get stronger in the arena, but nothing was happening. Resa and the others we growing in power in leaps and bounds, so he had decided to stop his training in the arena all together. But he did not stop his training entirely. In fact, he trained even more than before. Every moment of spare time he either spent training or studying. Even Resa didn't know he was training outside of the arena.  
  
He would warm up with stretching and running on the beach, then head out to the middle of the ocean and power up. He had invented many new techniques and attacks, one of which allowed him to go from normal to full power in a fraction of a second. He developed this handy trick when he realized that a person burned off a lot of energy while powering up, so minimizing that burn off would enhance the fighter's overall strength. But he still hadn't reached the boost in power he was looking for. Until...  
  
He was in the ocean training. It was late night, and he was on the far side of the planet so his power fluctuations would be less noticeable. He didn't want anyone to know about his training. He was floating, meditating, trying to figure out why he could not ascend, why there was a block between the power he knew was there, hidden within him. If I visualize what it would be like... to have the power... to defend... Then he felt a change.   
Something was with him. Not on the planet, but in his mind. It had no form, but he could see its eyes, the red glowing eyes. Not the proud red of the Thrakans, but blood red, the red of the Imp of Satan. It smiled at him, the eyes, the being, it mocked him. It showed him pictures of powerful people, the people he wanted to be, it knew what he wanted. Then the creature killed them one by one, burning them, torturing them all dying equally horrible deaths. Then he saw Resa. She was sleeping in her bed at the academy. The creature with no body appeared above her, it set her aflame in her sleep, burning her alive. He could see her features being melted away... he tried to look away but he couldn't, a nightmare he could not wake from... then something snapped.   
  
He began to anger, anger as he never had before... then it stopped ... he felt no emotions. He was then watching himself floating above the ocean. He was standing straight up, arms pulled back at his sides. Suddenly he was back in his body; he opened his eyes. Now he felt the power he had been waiting for. It surged through him, penetrating the very fabric of his being, enveloping him in a blazing white aura. His hair changed to a gray, then to a brilliant white; his eyebrows followed suit. His eyes disappeared and his eye sockets were filled with pure white energy. He was blinded, but at the same time could see everything. He felt his body begin to change. Bolts of blue electricity shot off all about him, his fists, clenched, were coursing with electricity of their own. He let out a roar so powerful that the shockwave separated the ocean below him and shattered rocks miles away. He felt the ocean begin to rain back down on him, then the final transformation took place. His muscles doubled in size, filling with a power not seen on this side of the galaxy in a great while, the power that was finally his. Electricity was now running all over his body, augmenting his new, formidable appearance.  
  
Before, his body was reacting naturally to the power influx disconnecting his central nervous system from his higher brain functions so as to not overload it. Now he was back in control. He realized this was the power he knew was hidden from him. He began to move about, throwing punches and kicks, and shooting off blasts of ki that were so powerful he even surprised himself. He had no trouble controlling his new power; it was as if it had always been a part of him. He flew back to the coast at record speed, flying so fast that the air in front of him was destroyed and formed a vacuum. He stood gazing at the academy arena, now feeling that he would finally be able walk in there proud, unashamed of his humanity. He began to laugh for the first time in a long while. He laughed to the point his stomach hurt and tears were in his eyes. When he stopped he realized he had not powered down, and wondered that if he did, would he be able to power up again?   
  
Now figuring that he could not stay powered up forever, he felt he had to power down. But there was a problem, even though he felt normal, he knew he was ten times stronger than before. It felt natural to be in this state. Knowing this was dangerous, he knew that he had to power down. He tried focusing on lowering his energy, but all it did was mask it, not diminish it. Then it hit him. He simply used his power up technique in reverse.   
  
Then, much faster than it had come, the power was gone. His muscles returned to normal, his eyes and hair changed back to their respective colors. He was afraid that the power had left him forever, but when he powered up again instead of plateauing as it previously had, it went shot back up to his transformed state. His eyes, muscles, and hair changed. He felt like a new person. If he was a new person he needed a new name.  
  
He thought long and hard. He settled on Sabre, he liked the sound of that. Sabre was now his name. But something still troubled him. The eyes he had seen, the creature with no body, he knew they were real. There was something out there, and he knew it was coming. Sleep did not come to him easily that night.   



	6. The Arena

6  
06.29.34  
1413 Hours  
Polaris, Aphea System  
  
Resa was the only one to approach him. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his massive frame. He did the same to her. Her eyes were still filled with tears, their trails clearly visible on her pale skin.  
  
"I...I..." she stammered.  
  
"It's okay..."  
  
After a few moments they disentangled and faced each other.   
  
"Wha- what happened to your eyes? Your hair?" she inquired with wonder.  
  
"I'm at the next level. I guess this is what happens. But, it's so weird, I feel completely normal. I remember you telling me how pumped you feel when you go Super Sayjin, but I feel like just plain old me."  
  
"When... How did this happen?" she asked.  
"It's a long story. I'll tell it to you later." he promised. "Here comes the dean. He's gonna want me to explain some things to him, like why I beat his prize student into the ground."  
  
The dean was a Thrakan named Barta. He was unusually tall, even for a Thrakan. He stood at an impressive seven feet, with large, black eyes that bore holes into you if you stared at them long enough. Traditionally, the dean was the strongest fighter in the Coalition. Barta was no exception.   
  
Every five years, a competition is held to see who the dean will be. All contestants must pass a certain number of intellectual tests before moving on to the tournament which decides the deanship. The dean who is in power at the time of the tournament fights the opponents one at a time until they are all defeated, or he/she loses. Loss is determined by unconsciousness. The current dean is given a period of rest before each fight in order to make things fair. The winner becomes the dean for five years, and the position can be held for an unlimited number of terms as long as he/she keeps winning. Only the strongest were allowed to train the students in the Academy.   
  
It is traditional for the dean to select a prize pupil whom he personally trains and directs. Barta's pupil was Danja. If the dean's apprentice is defeated in fair combat, he dean must either accept the victor as his new pupil, or fight the victor to restore his student's honor. Barta didn't like humans.  
  
"Hello, sir," said Sabre  
  
"What is going on here?" asked the agitated Thrakan  
  
"I, uh, that is sir, I beat Danja, sir."  
  
"You? Ha! Likely story. Tell me who really beat my prize student."  
  
"Uh, it was me, sir," Sabre reiterated.  
  
"Are you lying to me human?" Danja's eyes narrowed.  
  
"No, sir, I beat him in a fair fight. Ask anyone here."  
  
"He really did, sir! You should have seen him he..." Sabre's shot a glance at Resa that cut off her interjection.  
  
"You're telling me, that you, a human, beat the strongest fighter in this school?" asked Barta incredulously.  
  
"Yes, sir, I am."  
  
The dean looked around. All the students in the arena seemed to be in a mute state of shock, disbelieving what their senses had registered. The looks on their faces was all the proof Sabre needed to validate his story.  
  
"Well, boy, I am going to be honest with you. I don't want you as my new protégé because you are a human. I don't like you humans. You're small, stupid, erratic, and funny-looking. Once I beat you I am going to reinstate Danja."  
  
Normally, Sabre would have backed down from the dean. But that was then, this was now. He had a newfound confidence that came with his new power, and he knew he didn't have to take crap from the dean. It was an unwritten rule in the academy and the Coalition that you didn't have to take another person's disrespect if you were stronger than them. This attitude was most likely derived from the Sayjins. They had rubbed off a lot on the other races.  
  
"Well, sir," Sabre's voice inflected with sarcasm. "I suppose that would be what you would do if you could beat me, but it's not going to happen."  
  
"Insolent human, you will pay for your affront," snarled Barta.  
  
"Bring it on."  
  
That was the last straw. Barta shot to the top of the arena and announced the fight that was about to take place. All the students below except Resa and Danja moved to the sides of the building. Resa stayed in place in order to shield the unconscious Danja from any stray blasts, and also to get a better look at Sabre. She was experiencing a torrent of emotions at once; fear, love, wonder, resentment, and joy all ran through her at once. The resentment came from her Sayjin pride in that the human had surpassed her. The rest of her emotions stemmed from her love of that man who now seemed more complete than he had before. But she still had her doubts, as did the rest of the warriors, as to his ability to compete with the dean himself. He was definitely strong, but there was no way he could be that strong.  
  
Sabre floated up to meet his opponent. No words were exchanged, but the deans eyes spoke murder and all sorts of profane words. Sabre just kept a cocky smile on his face. Barta began his power-up. He extended his arms to the sides of his body and held them there, closing his eyes and gathering the necessary energy to hyperdyne. His skin pigment began to alternate between dark and bright red. The dean then shot his arms directly in front of him, then pulled them into his sides. He let out a roar as his muscles grew even larger than their normally massive proportions and his skin shone a bright red. His pulsating red eyes were downright scary.   
  
He was much stronger than Danja, Sabre felt, and the scouters reported this, reading his power level at 295,743,902. He knew this wouldn't be much different than his fight with Danja if he wanted it to be, but he decided he needed to teach the dean a lesson.   
  
"My turn?" Sabre asked.   
  
After getting the glare he knew he'd get, Sabre started his power-up. As before, he decided to take his time. He didn't do anything fancy; he simply hovered in the air, and raised his power gradually. The power building within him seemed familiar, even though he had only done it three times before. While powering up he decided two things: one, he needed a name for his new powered up state, and two, he had to destroy the arena scouters in order to make the fight fun. If Barta knew what his power level really was, he'd probably be paralyzed with fear, and that wouldn't be any fun. The second order of business he took care of just before he transformed. The scouters read him at 200,246,721 when he shot off multiple ki blasts to neutralize the devices. The blasts left arcing trails as they raced with precision to their inanimate targets. Barta sensed what the human was doing and did not take any defensive measures, although he wondered what the hell the boy was up to.  
  
"Now this is where things get fun." Sabre taunted.  
  
Then something happened that the human hadn't planed. One of his blasts had sent a rather large feedback wave through the power system. It shorted out the lights in the arena, and it became dark as night within the building. The scene to the spectators below was frightening and fascinating at the same time. When the power went out, the only sources of light were the two combatant's flaring ki. Barta's glowing energy pulsated an eerie red, outlining his body in a subdued radiance. His eyes were that of a devil's glowing a bloody red, narrowed in rage.   
  
Neither combatant moved when the lights went out. The darkness had no effect because the second one moved the other would have felt it. Sabre still hadn't powered up very much yet, and his ki was a rather dull white and it surrounded him like a sphere. As Sabre began to push himself to the next level, the arena took full notice of his awesome transformation.   
  
It started with his hair. It was just a flickering at first, the white was dancing along his hairline, hinting at the power yet to be released. His blue eyes began to fade; he felt his muscles involuntarily tense up, ready to explode. He wanted the transformation to go slowly, even if it burned up some of his energy. (Not that it mattered, mind you. He could have taken all year and the result would be negligible) As he clenched his fists, bolts of azure electricity shot up all around them, crawling over his forearms. His short hair was now visibly alternating between brown and white, being blown up and around by the energy radiating from his body. His eyebrows settled at a brilliant white, and his eyes were now totally gone, being replaced with glowing energy.   
  
Sabre let some of his built up energy vent, and as he did this his muscles bulged and his hair flashed a blinding white. The bolts of energy that were at his forearms now covered the entirety of his body, casting a terrifying shadow on the arena wall. Sabre once again felt himself relax as his body adjusted to the power flowing through it, and as he did so, he let up his control some and allowed his body to be enveloped in a burst of blinding white ki his body generated.   
The blast sent a shockwave that shook the arena's foundation, knocking some of the spectators below off balance. A vacuum now surrounded his body, his energy destroying the air around him as a result of its intensity. Being at the bare bottom of his transformed state, Sabre figured he'd warm up a bit before letting lose.  
  
"Are you ready now, human? Don't think your fancy light show impressed me. I will defeat you," Barta assured him.  
  
"I'm gonna beat you like an unwanted pack mule," Sabre retorted. (That was the expression his father used if he didn't clean up his room)   
  
The Thrakan's energy flared, signaling he was going to attack, his pulsating red body barely illuminating the darkness.   
  
"Wow, he really does kinda look scary," Sabre thought to himself, even though he had not a trace of fear in his being.  
  
Barta lunged at him straight on, sending a right hand punch directly at Sabre's face which was smacked away. He then sent a kick towards his torso that connected with nothing but air and threw a left-handed uppercut that Sabre allowed to connect. He had to allow his body to relax to let the blow move him a few feet back in the air. The dean shot behind him and elbowed him in the back, knocking him a few more yards forward. Sabre easily recovered and met the Barta's attack head on. He was sending punches and kicks at an unbelievable speed toward Sabre's body, all of which the human lazily deflected. He then slowed down considerably, feigning fatigue, and allowed the dean to think he was pummeling his body. After numerous repeated blows to the gut, he began an intentionally sloppy counterattack of his own, allowing the dean to grasp both his hands. As he did this, Sabre broke his grip and drove his knee into the dean's gut.   
  
Barta's concentration was broken when the blow connected, sending five kinds of pain throughout his body. At that instant he knew he was in trouble, for no one had ever hurt him this bad before. He felt the true power that the boy was hiding, and that thought alone made it hurt all the more. He realized that the human had reached a new level, and that he was a fool for allowing his ego to blind his senses. The blow drove him forward, placing his head level with Sabre's.  
  
"This is going to hurt, bad." the human warned the incapacitated Thrakan.  
  
Sabre began to pummel the dean's body, sending blow after bone-crunching blow that released shockwaves of compressed air into the deans head and torso.   
  
Sabre then grabbed the dean by his glowing hair and tossed him high into the air as if he was a mere doll. Sabre shot above him, leaving a pure white trail of energy arcing along the path he was taking. He stopped directly above the dean, brought his arms above his head. When he brought them down, a massive, yet relatively weak blast hit Barta, enveloping him and driving his battered form to the ground.  
  
The dean was visible through the white ki blast and his body was spread open, arms and legs akimbo within the maelstrom of power. His clothing began to disintegrate in the blast, sending tatters of it to be atomized. He was driven a good four feet into the ground by the blast, a crater surrounding him. Sabre floated high above, his body illuminated with indescribable power. The electricity that was on his body began to move more rapidly, and his ki flared even brighter as he sent a barrage of powerful energy blasts to the dean's body. Each spectator watched the blasts move as if in slow motion, watching their curving trails, seeing the beams cross each other's paths. As they hit in a repeating pattern at regular intervals, Barta's body was lifted clear of the ground, helplessly being tossed about by the power being released on and around him. When the first blast hit, the dean's world became black.  
  
After a few moments Sabre stopped his barrage and brought his arms out in front of him. He clasped one hand behind the other (think CPR) and began to charge up an attack. This was Sabre's most powerful technique, another which he had yet to name, but he reduced the amount of energy he put into it dramatically in order not to kill the dean. Small spheres of ki began to dance in front of his hands, eventually being drawn to the confluence of energy in the palm of his hand. The electricity that was crawling on his body now centered along his forearms and hands, changing from white to a bright blue. His flaring ki surrounding his body was at an all-time brilliance, his muscles and veins bulging. His eye sockets overflowed with the energy his eyes had become, dripping it out into the wind being stirred up by his power, forming streaks of white beside his head.  
  
Sabre, feeling that he had gathered just enough energy, wordlessly released the blast. His body was driven up slightly by the energy. The blast flared out about two feet on either side of his had, increasing its width to about four and a half feet. The beam, now a bright, blue-white, rocketed to the point in space from which Barta's body was descending. When it him, the arena's fifteen foot reinforced plasteel doors exploded outward, sending them outside with tremendous speed. The blast drove everyone to the ground, the spectators being unable to shield their bodies from such an intense explosion. The dean's already beaten and battered form was once again driven into a crater in the ground, except this time held in place by the energy.   
  
Once he hit, the energy seemed to pass through him, then dissipate. Suddenly the ground below the dean was rocked with the backwash of the blast, crumbling it below him and knocking him back into the air, this time with enough force to reach Sabre's altitude.  
  
As the unconscious body came to eye level with the human, he eyed its shattered form with pity. The body began to descend rapidly, but Sabre gently caught it before it hit the ground. He felt the Thrakan's body would give out if it took any more punishment. Somehow, he thought it ironic that the two strongest fighters in the coalition were both beaten by a 'mere' human. He picked up the two fallen warriors, one in each hand, and carried them over to the tattered aid tent in the corner. Sabre laid them down on the cots and hooked them up to the med stations. Their vitals were weak, but they would pull live.  
  
Once he turned around, he realized he may have over done it. The arena, normally covered with a lush green grass floor, looked liked the surface of a dead, moon. Large craters created by stray blasts litter the floor. The blast doors were completely torn from their hinges, and the arena walls were cracked and buckling in numerous places. The large rocks that were used for cover in training exercises were either cracked in two or turned to pebbles. Sabre realized that the only illumination in the arena was coming from himself and the dim emergency lights, most of which were non-functional. A side of effect of his new powers must be enhanced vision because he could see everything plain as day.  
  
He became acutely aware of the fear that was in the building. Most of the fighters had recovered from the impact of the last attack, and were afraid to move. Everyone was transfixed upon the glowing white body. Resa, who said nothing as Sabre picked up Danja's body, had a look of wonder and fear on her face.   
  
"It can't help that it's dark in here," he thought.  
  
To assuage their fears, he sent multiple glowing balls of ki around the arena, almost lighting it up as it had been before. Sabre could see the fear in their eyes, and now felt embarrassed.  
  
"Uh, hi guys," he said timidly, "long time no see. I, uh, I guess I've changed a bit." he raised his hands in a gesture of peace, but that just caused everyone to flinch.  
  
The silence in the arena was deafening. Finally, one voice broke the tension.  
  
"Is it really you?" It was Resa's voice.  
He turned to where the voice was coming from and saw her timidly approaching him. She looked like she had been in a fight, even though today he had been the only one to battle. Her armor was cracked in numerous points, and her muscular shoulder was exposed where it had been completely destroyed. It was bleeding pretty heavily, due to a piece of armor lodged in it. Her body must have taken a beating when she was protecting Danja from his blasts.   
  
"You've changed... I mean, I thought you got stronger before... but not this much..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"Yeah... but I'm still the same on the inside." he used the same words as she did when she went SSJ for the first time.  
  
"Now what do I do now? I kinda realized that I over did it a little. How am I going to explain this," he gestured to the devastated arena, "but more importantly, to whom?"  
  
Normally, an event like this was reported to the dean, and then appropriate action was taken. But now, with the dean out of the picture, who was he to report to?  
  
"I, I don't know... How?" Those were the only words she could muster before she collapsed on the ground.  
  
Sabre picked her up and began to head towards the exit. He was going to go collect his thoughts and talk with Resa for a little before the dean awoke. Just before he exited into the night he spoke.  
  
"Tell the dean I stepped out for awhile. You guys will be able to find me. I don't know what to do, but I want to talk with Resa for a bit." He started to turn again, but stopped. Remembering an old earth saying he picked up from an old movie he spoke the infamous words in a funny accent,   
  
"I'll be back."  



	7. Blue Six

7  
  
Polaris, Aphea System  
6.30.34  
0850 Hours  
  
  
When she awoke it was dawn, the giant twin moons of Polaris were visible in the sky this time of year, and they took up a good part of the sky. They were quite beautiful, but she had rarely time to notice them because she spent most of her time in the arena. She sat up and felt the cool breeze run over her body, then realized her armor was stripped and lying in a pile beside her. She was wearing only a low-cut shirt that exposed her muscular stomach, and a pair of form-fitting shorts that exposed her powerful legs. She then realized she was not alone. She turned and saw him sitting to her right, with a bashful grin on his face.  
  
"Morning, sleepy head, I thought you'd sleep the entire day. I guess you Sayjins are tougher than you look," he joked.  
  
"What am I doing here?" she asked.  
  
"Try to remember, it'll come to you."  
  
She closed her eyes and concentrated. It wasn't completely clear. She saw images, flashes of the previous night. She was putting on her armor when Jake (yes, I finally reveal his name) came in. Something was different, but she didn't know what it was. She was crying, then there was a bright light. Then Danja was on the ground. Somebody was talking to her, she wasn't sure who, but he was glowing. Then she saw the dean. He looked evil, glowing red. Something hit her, hard, then he was on the ground too. Somebody was talking to her, it was the white guy again. Then the world was black.   
  
"Jake... it was you?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How...?"  
  
"You keep saying that. Well, I guess I'll explain."  
  
After he had told his story, about the eyes, about her, she remained silent.  
  
"No one's talked to me since last night. I think they're all afraid. You're not scared, are you?"  
  
"No, no, I'm just..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"Surprised?"  
  
"Yeah, surprised. How did I get here?"  
  
"I carried you here. You were covering Danja's body when I used my last attack on the dean. You were pretty close, closer than every one else, and must have taken a good bit of the blast. You walked over to me and passed out. No one was saying anything so I picked you up and left. You're the only one who wasn't paralyzed with fear, so I figured when you came to we could talk, like we used to."  
  
"Why am I half-naked?"  
  
"Oh, well that's easy. You were beaten up pretty bad, and you had a piece of your armor lodged into your shoulder. When I transform, not only do I get stronger, but I develop some new abilities as well. Visual, auditory, and other sensory enhancements are part of the package, and so is my ability to heal. I took off your armor so I could heal your wounds."  
  
"Yeah, right, sicko," she smiled.  
  
"But, I am at a loss as to what I should do. I think the dean's still out, so I'm just going to wait here until someone comes to get me."  
  
"What do you think's gonna happen?"  
  
"Well, I guess that someone in the military, probably some secret ops division, and whisk me away from here. They'll probably run tests on me and want me to work for them."  
  
"Would you?"  
  
"Hell yeah, it'd be fun. 'Save the galaxy' and all that sort of fun stuff. The cool part is that I wouldn't have to be their bitch the entire time, because as far as I know, I'm the strongest guy around. That is, of course, unless they have some bio-augmented killing machine, capable of reducing entire quadrants to vapor."  
  
"You're crazy you know that?" she joked.  
  
"I know."  
  
They sat in silence for a long while, gazing into the azure sky, fascinated with the two giant spheres that occupied their vision. After quite some time, Resa turned to him, with a grave look in her eyes.  
  
"I, I have something to tell you..."  
  
"Really?" he asked nonchalantly. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact you're an agent for Blue Six, would it?" he smiled.  
Her face turned pale and her eyes widened.  
  
"How did you know?" she asked, stupefied that he could have found out.  
  
Officially, Blue Six did not exist. Every government in every civilization in history had black-ops organizations, agencies that the general population did not knew existed. The Galactic Coalition was no exception. Blue Six was the agency that knew everything. They had their own R&D facilities and had technologies that the rest of the Coalition would not have for years to come. They had psychics, soldiers, spies, weapons, ships, and money, lots and lots of money. They were the ones behind the scenes, making sure everything was running smoothly. They had their hands in all aspects of the Coalition.   
  
The economy, military, government, entertainment, they were all influenced invisibly by Blue Six. Rarely did they become involved directly, rather they insinuated, hinted, directed. It was imperative that their identity not become known. They had agents in all parts of the galaxy, including this one. Resa was the agent for the Academy.  
  
"Well, since I did nothing but talk to you and study, I found some inconsistencies in your life. I figured this out a few years ago when you came back from vacation on Altaire. You were different. You seemed distant, I mean, you warmed up again, eventually, but something about you had changed. I figured you had gone SSJ out there at some point, but that was only part of it. They knew you were on the fast track to the Academy so they approached you. Their old agent was going to graduate the same year you would enter, so it would work out perfectly. You job would be to evaluate and try and recruit fighters that met the specifications they gave you. That's why Aurora, Kiana, Brennit, and Yosho all left. Officially they dropped out, but they really became Blue Six operatives."  
  
"How do you know all this?" she cried, shocked that her cover could be so completely blown.  
  
"As I said, I've never had much to do. You are basically my only friend. I can read you like a book. When you came back from Altaire I began to do some research. I bet you didn't know I'm an expert hacker."  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"That's what 17 years of social rejection gets you. I stumbled upon some old documents and blah, blah, blah, found out about Blue Six, and you. So, I've been watching you. I bugged various things in your room, like the shoes you always wear. To make a long story short, I've been spying on you for the past three years."  
  
"My room, my things, are you crazy?!"   
  
"Don't worry, no cameras, just auditory devices. The scramblers they gave you knocked out most conventional bugs, but not a few of the one I cooked up. So, I just listened, gathered info on you and Blue Six. Frankly, I had nothing better to do. At first, I was pissed, jealous really, that you wouldn't tell me something like this, but then I realized just how serious the stuff you were dealing with was. Like the assassination of various bad guys, the riot on Centuria 3, and the Retar scandal. That one was a doozy."  
  
"I, I don't know whether I should kill you for blowing my cover as per my standing orders, or be relieved that I have someone to talk to."  
  
"Well, I can't believe I can finally say this, but you couldn't touch me, even if you wanted to. And, well, I'd like to work for you guys."  
  
"You guys? You make it sound like we don't know each other."  
  
"Well, to a point, your 'secret life' as a Blue Six agent is a mystery to me. I'd like to get in on it. Besides, I have nowhere else to go. I think I'd make a good 'agent' or what ever it is you guys call yourselves."  
  
Resa never really considered herself as an agent, rather, as an informant. The only person whom she had met from the agency was the Thrakan that recruited her, and she never saw him again.  
  
"Um, to be honest, I've never even been in direct contact with my, uh, contact, the person I report to. I don't even know if it's a he or she. All I do is leave reports at various predetermined sites. If they like something, they contact me."  
  
"I guess you have something interesting in your report now. But I don't know if you should let 'em know that I know about them. I mean, if you think they wouldn't freak, I guess it'd be okay."  
  
She thought about her response for a moment.  
  
"The only problem I can see is that everyone saw what you did last night. It's going to be hard to bury that."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you guys will think of something." was his comical reply. He didn't see the dropship approaching in the distance.  



	8. Eve in the Big City

8  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1500 Hours  
  
He was pretty sure he was flying somewhere over Africa now, because he had been flying over a desert for quite some time. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was heading, he just let his body take control. It was dark. He was lost in his thoughts most of the time while crossing the Atlantic when he was stopped by a fantastic sight. It was the Statue of Liberty.   
  
A flood of emotions ran through him when he caught sight of the green statue. He had seen it in his history books, but it was totally different seeing it in person. This edifice stood for all that was just and right, he remembered the inscription on the pedestal on which it stood:   
  
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"   
At one point, the coalition stood for all of that. Now it was being destroyed piece by piece.   
  
He floated above the statue for quite a while, knowing that this would probably be the only time he would ever get to see it. After a few minutes he looked past it and onto the city she stood in front of. New York City, perhaps the greatest city ever constructed, with perhaps the exception of ancient Rome. Its twinkling lights pierced the darkness, illuminating the skyscrapers against the thickening blackness.  
  
He noticed that the city hadn't changed all that much in its long and colored history. The layout was still exactly the same, although technology had changed the buildings from simple apartments to massive skyscrapers. He flew over times square, not really caring if anyone noticed him. After all, he'd be gone in a few hours. He then proceeded to fly over the residential districts and landed in a small park outside the Bronx.  
  
Feeling in the mood for a stroll, he wandered about the area, not really paying attention to where he was going. Without realizing it, he had managed to wander into a rather bad part of the city, and a few seedy looking characters took notice. He stood out like a sore thumb dressed in his solid white clothing.  
  
When he turned the corner on something-and-23rd, he heard a stifled cry. It was barely audible and it took some concentration on his part to determine its location. It seemed to be emanating from the alley to his two o'clock. As he entered the alley he saw a young girl, no more than fifteen, curled into a ball on the ground. Above her stood a large black man, holding some sort of blunt instrument.  
  
Crimes of this nature were rare in the Coalition, with the law being extremely unforgiving, but he recognized brutality when he saw it. Apparently he had caught the man in the middle of a "domestic dispute." Sabre narrowed his eyes and approached the man.  
  
With his back turned the man had no idea anyone approaching him. He wordlessly raised the weapon to strike the girl again when something grabbed his hand. Then he heard a series of snaps. Before brain could register the pain, his hand and forearm had been broken in fourteen different places. The man fell to his knees screaming, grabbing hold of his incapacitated arm.  
  
When he turned around he saw a rather young looking guy dressed in white, standing above him. His eyes were fixed on his own and seemed to be cutting right through him. Then Sabre spoke.  
  
"I suggest you leave here now before I break something else."  
  
The man needed no further prompting and ran as best he could with multiple fractures in his arm. Sabre returned his attention to the girl. She was still curled into a ball, still softly crying, oblivious to his intervention. He kneeled down next to her.  
  
"Are... are you okay?" he asked softly.  
  
When she looked up she clearly was not. The sight made his stomach turn. Her left eye was swollen shut and tears ran freely down the sides of her face. She was bleeding from the corners of her mouth, nose, and from a deep gash on her forehead. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was matted with blood and dirt. It looked like her nose and right cheek bone were broken as well. Some teeth were knocked out of alignment too. How this girl remained conscious was a mystery to him.  
  
"Who..." she cough up some blood. "Who... who are y-y-you?  
  
"Shhh. Relax, I'm here to help. Don't move...I'm a doctor," Sabre assured the broken girl. "Well, sorta." he thought.  
  
"It...hu-" she coughed more blood, "It... hurts..."  
  
There was no way this girl would survive to much longer, even if he got her to a hospital. At the Academy they taught how to recognize the difference between the ones that could be saved and the ones that had to be let go. Under normal circumstances she would fall into the latter category. But this situation was not normal.  
  
Sabre stood up and backed up a step. He powered up instantly and transformed. The alley was flooded with a blinding white light, and the girl shut her good eye. He focused his energy, extended his arms and recited a chant, and the blinding white light was changed to yellow. When it was over he powered down. Her face was restored, the blood covering her skin was gone, and her bones were healed. This healing power of his took quite a bit of effort on his part, so he rarely used it.  
  
The girl was in a state of shock. She had just been beaten to within an inch of her life, and suddenly she felt fine. She looked up to see a young man standing in front of her, dressed rather strangely for the city. She immediately got to her feet and backed against the alley wall. She was panicking.  
  
"Who are you? Did Danny send you? Please...Please don't hurt me... not again...I'm sorry...I won't...I won't..." she broke down into tears.  
  
She must think I'm the guy that did this to her, he thought.  
  
"Hey, look, calm down. I'm not here to hurt you."  
  
"Who are you? I've never seen you before. Danny sent you, didn't he... please..." she sobbed.  
  
"No, I don't know Danny. I'm not going to hurt you."  
  
Obviously, she didn't believe him and bolted out of the alley.   
  
"Hey, wait!" he cried. There's no way I can let her go out alone, not after what just happened to her, he reasoned.  
  
So, he followed her. He had no trouble keeping up with the girl, who was scared out of her mind. She was about to turn the corner when she suddenly stopped. She was frozen in terror. He saw what she was afraid of. A large group of young men were coming down the street, including the man whose arm he had broken. He was still holding it in agony.  
  
The girl remained frozen, so scared her legs weren't working. As the men closed in Sabre stood in front of her.   
  
"Back off, now." he growled.  
  
"Yous the guy that broke Jamal's arm?" a stocky Italian asked him.  
  
He did not reply.  
  
"I says, are yous the guy that broke Jamal's arm?"  
  
Still no response.  
  
"Yeah man, that's him! I'm sure! No doubt!" the black man cried.  
  
"Alright, yous guys, we gonna have ourselves a little fun." the Italian said, addressing his posse. "When we're done with him we's gonna work over girl the again too."  
  
Two of the thugs approached him and attempted to grab his arms. Sabre sent his left fist into the first guy's stomach, doubling him over and lifted the other off the ground by his throat. He threw him about 20 feet down the road. Then the other 4 charged him. Instead of retaliating he simply stood still and let them come. A large Puerto Rican sent his fist into Sabre's face and shattered his hand upon impact. Another swung a large pipe and hit him in the back of the head. The pipe harmlessly bounced off. By this time, the other two backed off and wondered what the hell was going on.  
  
"Who is this guy, Superman?" asked the visibly worried Italian.  
  
"Something like that," Sabre responded.  
  
Before anyone had time to react he shot in to the air, delivering a jump kick to the side of the PR's head. He rotated and slammed his fist into one thug's face, hearing the crack of his cheek bone and jaw, then ruptured another's man's internal organs with a knee to the gut. He grabbed the Italian and the black guy he had earlier maimed by the head, one in each hand. He smashed them together, collapsing them to the ground with a dull thud. The Italian would never wake up. The last man was fleeing, but Sabre put a stop to that with a kick to the base of the spine. He never walked again.  
  
Throughout all this, the girl had stood in the same spot, not quite sure if what she was seeing was real. This guy had just single-handedly taken out the Ravens, the brutal gang that ran this part of town with an iron fist. No one had ever done anything like this for her, she didn't know why they would. When her savior had finished off the last guy he turned around. She noticed he wasn't even breathing hard. Sabre was a little bit embarrassed.  
  
"Uh...were these the guys who did this too you?" he asked rather timidly.  
  
She nodded her head.  
  
"Well...uh, they...uh...won't give you any more problems...uh, heh heh..." he laughed awkwardly.  
  
She was silent for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
"Why...Why did you save me?"   
  
Sabre was stunned. Of all the things he expected her to say, this was not one of them.  
  
"Because they were going to hurt you," he explained, "Did you think I was going to let them touch you?"  
  
"I...I...I don't know..." she turned her eyes down, "No one's ever done something like this before..."  
  
"You mean, nobody's tried to stop these guys before?"  
  
She looked back up.  
  
"Those are the Ravens just tore up! No one's ever touched them before!"  
  
Sabre realized that very few people on this planet had learned to manipulate ki. That's why so few were able to keep so many under their power.  
  
"Really, it was nothing, I just did the right thing."  
  
"Well...I wish there were more guys like you around here..." she blushed and looked down again. "I...I...want to know something...about what...what you did to me...back in the alley..."  
  
This question he was ready for, but for some reason his words came out awkwardly.   
"Well...uh...I'm kinda special, I guess you would say..."  
  
"Are you an angel?" she asked  
  
That one took him by surprise.  
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"Are...are you an angel?"  
  
"What? No, no way, I'm just a regular guy I-"  
  
"No way are you a regular guy! I've never seen anybody with moves like that, not even in the movies! And the way you...back in the alley! There's no way you ain't an angel!"  
  
"No, seriously, I'm not, really."  
  
"Yeah, right... Look if its not too much trouble... could you ask God something for me I..."  
  
This was getting out of hand.  
  
"Look, I'm not an Angel!" he shouted. It caused her to cringe. "Aw, hey...I'm sorry..." he put her arms on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. She didn't try to take his arms off her, she was definitely scared of him.  
  
"Please...I'm just a plain old human, just like you. Here watch this?" He took his arms off her and picked up a piece of broken glass lying in the street. "This is stupid, and its gonna hurt..." he warned himself. He then sliced open his palm with the glass, causing blood to flow freely from the gash.  
  
"Do angels bleed?"  
  
"I...I...guess not..." she stared at his bleeding hand.  
  
"Don't worry, It'll be fine," He grabbed his hand in order to stem the bleeding.  
  
"That's gotta hurt."  
  
"Yeah, a little," that was an understatement.  
  
"I could take you down to the clinic on 22nd street, they cou-" he cut her off.  
  
"No, its okay. I gotta get going any way. It was nice meeting you...take care of yourself." he turned and began to walk away.  
  
She cried out to him, "Hey! Don't go! Please!"  
  
He turned around.  
  
"Uh...I kinda have to get going..." he didn't want to be here any longer than he had to. Seeing the way she was before made him realize that earth wasn't always as great as he thought it was.  
  
"Please, take me with you!" she asked desperately.  
  
This girl just kept dropping bombshells.  
  
"I don't think I'm going your way..."  
  
"No, please, take me with you! I don't have anywhere else to go! My parents are dead...I've been living with some dickhead who tries to rape me every night, please, you can't leave me here!" she once again broke down into tears. He approached her and took the sobbing girl in in his arms. When she calmed down he spoke.  
  
"I really don't think I can take you with me..."  
  
She wasn't having any of it.  
  
"No, I have to! Look, anywhere you're going is better than here. I've been living here all my life and I would've been better off dead. When I was in the alley back there I was almost happy...I was so close to letting it all go...but then you saved me. You can't just leave me here to go through it all again!"  
  
"But I thought I took care of those guys?"  
  
"You think those are the only assholes in town? I got news for you buddy, they're just the tip of the iceberg. More are just gonna come and take their place. I can't live like this any more." she was once again on the verge of tears.  
  
"I...I don't know..." his resolution was wavering.   
  
"Please, I'll do anything!"   
  
"Shit, this isn't good. What am I supposed to do? I can't just fly off with her, she might not take it all that well. I mean, I don't think she's used to seeing people fly." he thought  
  
"I don't know if you'd...be ready to understand...I mean, I'm not like other guys..."  
  
"I told you, I don't give a damn. For the love of God, get me out of this hellhole!"  
  
He surprised himself by what he did next.  
  
"Fine," he sighed. "But...I have to warn you... you're going to see things you won't be able to understand..."  
  
"I told you, I don't care!"  
  
"Don't say I didn't warn you."   
  
He scooped her up in his arms. "I hope you aren't afraid of heights."  
  
"Wha-" she was cut off when he blasted into the air.  
  
He shot up high above the surrounding buildings and paused. He waited for her response. When she opened her eyes and looked down she immediately closed her eyes.  
  
"I told you. Do you wanna go back down?"  
  
"No!" there was no way in hell she was going back down.  
  
"Okay. Just hold on tight."  
  
He began to accelerate forward, keeping a tight grip on the small girl he held in his arms. He slowly built up speed until the wind became a hindrance.  
  
"I'm cold!" she said above roaring wind.  
  
In response he flared his ki, shielding him and the girl from the airflow. This allowed him to go faster, and he accelerated again. After a few second there was a loud boom.  
  
"What was that?" the scared girl cried.  
  
"Sonic boom."  
  
She didn't understand until she looked down and saw the city disappearing behind her and the ground flying beneath her.  
  
"Whoa..." was all she could say.  
  
He kept accelerating until he hit about mach 5, not wanting to have to raise his power any higher. He would reach the Lookout in plenty of time at this speed. He began to increase his angle of ascent, leaving the ground far behind. The girl's eyes were as wide as tennis balls.  
  
"This is so cool!"  
  
"Yeah...I guess."  
  
"But how can you do this? People can't fly! Are you sure you're not a-"  
  
"Look, I'm just a guy who can do a few tricks. I'm not the only one. Where we're going there's gonna be a whole bunch more people who can fly too." Taking her to the Lookout would be for the best. He was sure that the earth's guardian would know what to do with her.  
  
"More guys like you, huh? Sounds fun, uh...."  
  
"Jake, my name is Jake." He surprised himself again. He hadn't used that name in a long time...  
  
"Nice to meet you Jake. My name is Eve."  
  
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Eve."   
  
For the first time he saw her smile. Far below a fisherman in a small boat stepped out of his cabin and into the evening air. He looked up to see a white streak arcing in the sky. Figuring it to be a shooting star, he made a wish.  
  
  



	9. Introduction

9  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1575 Hours  
  
When he and Eve reached the lookout he felt that Piccolo, Vegita, Bulma, Trunks and baby Trunks were already there, as were its permanent residents, Dende and Mr. Popo. He noticed that the Android and Krillin were gone though. After landing softly he let Eve stand on her own to feet. Vegita, the only one outside, took notice of the newcomer.  
  
"Who is this girl? What is she doing here?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Just somebody I met. She was in trouble and had nowhere to go, so I brought her here."  
  
"This isn't a runaway home for helpless girls! Bring her back to where you found her!"  
  
Eve was instinctively scared of this small but vicious man and took cover behind Sabre.  
  
"No, Vegita, I can't, I promised her I wouldn't. I'm going to ask Dende as to what I should do with her, I'm sure he'd kn--"  
  
Vegita cut him off with a grunt and turned away. Sabre turned back to the girl.   
  
"Hey, its okay, he's just an ass. Don't worry about him." he assured her.  
  
"His bark is worse than his bite, right?"  
  
"Actually..."  
  
When she noticed the scenery she looked around in awe, fascinated with the place.  
  
"What is this?" she asked.  
  
"Its the lookout where the guardian of the Earth lives."  
  
"The what? I've never heard of him."  
  
"It's complicated. Come on, we'll go talk to him, I'm sure he'll know what to do with you." He turned and she followed in step behind him.  
  
He entered the sole building on the lookout and found the rest of them talking. They all looked up when he and Eve entered. Bulma, with baby in arms, greeted him.  
  
"Oh, hi! You must be the new guy everyone's talking about! I'm Bulma and--"  
  
He interrupted her. "I know who you and your baby are, ma'am, and its a pleasure to meet you." he extended his and she shook it, a bit offset by his politeness. Piccolo, like Vegita, took notice of the girl.  
  
"Who's that?"  
  
"Someone I met, she's had nowhere else to go so I brought her here."  
  
"You can't just bring people up here, you know." Piccolo informed him.  
  
"It's okay, I just brought her here so I could talk with Dende. With him being the Earth's guardian and all I figured he'd know what to do with her."  
  
He turned to Eve to see her staring at Piccolo.   
  
"Wha-...what's that?" she asked shakily.  
  
"Uh, heh, heh, he's not from around here..."  
  
"He's green."  
  
"Yeah, uh, you know how I told you before you'd see some strange things up here..."  
  
"Oh...right..."  
  
"Anyway," he returned to the matter at hand. "Dende, can I talk to you?"  
  
The young guardian of the Earth was surprised by this man's appearance, but for some reason not afraid of him. Something about him was inherently good...  
  
"Uh, okay."   
  
He left Eve behind with the others, and Bulma began her battery of questions for the girl. Dende walked with the stranger to the edge of the lookout as he explained what had transpired.  
  
"So, I came to you."  
  
"Hmmm...I'm not quite sure what to do...it's blurry..."  
  
"Would talking to her help?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure it would."  
  
Sabre called Eve over to them, and she was glad to leave behind the scary-looking, giant, green man, and the crazy woman. She did think the quiet guy with purple hair was kind of cute, though.  
  
"I want you to talk with Dende here, then he'll figure out ehat's best for you."  
  
"This guy is the guardian of the Earth? I pictured somebody more..."  
  
"He's new."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Dende could feel the pain emanating through the girl's being. She had not had a good life. Something was strange with her, though, something was different. It was more than just her pain, he was sure, but it wasn't clear.  
  
"Excuse me, miss."  
  
She looked down on the small, green boy, not sure what to expect. But then again, the entire day had been full of surprises, she reflected.  
  
"Uh, yeah?"  
  
"Would you give me your hands. I will be better able to sense as to what I should do."  
  
Eve looked back to Sabre.  
  
"Is it okay."  
  
"Yeah, sure, he won't bite." he kidded.  
  
She looked back down and extended her hands. The young Namek took her hands in his and focused. What he felt surprised him. This girl had a great destiny, he was sure, and she was to be a part of the events that were to take place back in the newcomer's galaxy.  
  
"So?" he inquired.  
  
"This is most interesting."   
  
"What?" Eve asked, concerned that something may be wrong.  
  
"You brought her so I could tell you what is supposed to be done with her, right?"  
  
"Yeah..." he trailed off, not knowing what to expect from the pint-sized guardian.  
  
"Well, what I felt is that she is supposed to go with you when you return home."  
  
"What?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"It is what I felt," he stated.  
  
Eve was worried again. "What, what does that mean you guys?"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"Come on, guys, answer me!" the girl shouted.  
  
Sabre was not sure that this was a good idea. He was going to take her back to a war zone, and this girl had no idea how to defend herself! She didn't even know that ki existed, never mind how to manipulate it. It would be crazy to bring her there. Sure he could train her, but still, it would take years to even develop a respectable fighting power.  
  
"Dende, I'm going back to a war zone, there's know way that is where she belongs!"  
  
"What I feel is that she is to go back with you, and that is where her destiny awaits."  
  
"What destiny? She's just a normal girl!"  
  
"Ahh, but that is it, she is not."  
  
Eve was really worried now. War zone, destiny? It all made no sense to her.  
  
"Jake, please, tell me what is going on!"  
  
He sighed and turned to her. "Well, according to our green friend here, you're supposed to come with me back to my...home."  
  
"Where's your home?" she asked.   
  
"It's sorta in a different galaxy, kind of..."  
  
A look of surprise crossed her face, then faded.  
  
"Well, of all the shit that's happened to me today, your the best thing that's come along. I can't say I'm surprised you're not from around here, I mean, you beat up an entire gang without breaking a sweat, can fly, and have green friends. And then there's the fact you healed me without even touching me..."  
  
"Yeah, I guess that isn't normal around these parts. So, what do you say, are you up for a little adventure."  
  
"Like I said before, I have nowhere to go. At least I'll be with someone who remotely cares about me."  
  
"I'm glad you feel that way. I just have to warn you though, you're in for a few more surprises."   
  
She smiled. "Don't worry. After all I've seen already, I think I'll be okay."  
  
"Good." he turned back to Dende, "So, do you know where the others are?"  
  
"Yes." He had kept tabs on them after they left the lookout. Being guardian of a planet was cool sometimes. "Goku, Gohan, Yamcha, and Tien are all at Master Roshi's. They will be leaving shortly. When we revived Android 18 she took off, but Krillin didn't follow her, he went to Master Roshi's instead. She is quite disturbed after what happened today."  
  
"I don't blame her." he'd have to convice her to come with them, though. The technicians back at the Coalition would be able to increase her power substantially. Just about all of Coalition's own fighting and androids had been deactivated during the AI war, and none of the ones left were as strong as this Android 18. She would be a valuable asset to his team.  
  
"Okay, Eve, let's go back and I'll properly introduce you to the people you'll be with for the next six months." he put his arm around her shoulder and they walked back to the palace.  
  
"Six months", he thought. "I hope we have that long." 


	10. The Problem With Secret Government Agenc...

10  
Polaris, Aphea System  
6.30.34  
0848 Hours  
  
When he finally caught sight of the shuttlecraft it was about 3 miles out and approaching rapidly.   
  
"Speak of the devil," Sabre commented.  
  
Resa was surprised. "I didn't call them."  
  
"No, you didn't, but I'm sure they detected my power level at some point. Now there here to check out the goods."  
  
The dropship was now on top of their position and landed smoothly a few yards directly in front of them. After the engines shut down, a large Thrakan stepped out. His insignia ranking him as a Major but he bore no unit insignia.   
  
"Definitely Spec-ops," he thought to himself.  
  
The large, red man walked briskly to them.  
  
"Lieutenant D'Jana, I presume?"  
  
"Yes, sir," she replied.  
  
"And I assume you must be the source of the power we detected," he gestured to the human. "Please, if you'll both follow me. It is imperative that we get to a secure location immediately."  
  
Sabre nodded his head and he and Resa followed the major into the spacecraft. He figured he had nowhere better to be. As soon as they had taken their seats the engines roared and they were off into space.  
  
There were three other people in the rear compartment of the ship, two Sayjin officers, a male and female, and a Namek soldier. He noticed the grave expressions on their faces, but wasn't sure what to make of it. The ship was certainly designed for covert operations. It was extremely quiet for its size, and much faster than it appeared. It was painted a slate grey and bore no decorative markings. The interior was dark and the seats were hard. These people were definitely all business.  
  
Once they had cleared the atmosphere of the planet the Thrakan spoke.  
  
"Well, I must say this is quite unexpected. We had no idea something of this magnitude would occur, at least not yet. Honestly, we weren't ready for it. And a human? That was certainly a surprise."  
  
"Pardon me?" Sabre asked  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me start from the beginning. My name is Major Hathra D'Vesa. I am from a... special branch of the military, and these are my associates."  
  
Sabre decided he'd drop the ball. "Blue Six."  
  
"Excuse me?" a look of surprise plastered itself on the Thrakan's face.   
  
"You guys are from Blue Six."  
  
The Major glanced at Resa.  
  
"No, she didn't say anything, I found out myself, by accident really. I know about you guys." He wondered how the Major would respond. The other three had surprised expressions as well.  
  
The Thrakan quickly regained his composure. "Well, we've had quite a number of surprises today, what's one more? Obviously, we have gotten careless somewhere along the line, we will have to rectify the problem. But enough about us. Tell me about yourself."  
  
"What do you want to know?" the human inquired. He wasn't sure where this was leading.  
  
"Well, we already know your name, Mr. Devaro. We have your background, information on your family, or what's left of it, and your record at the Academy. What we want to know is how you got to be so strong."  
  
Sabre knew this question would arise, but he still didn't have a real answer. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure. It just kinda happened. I mean I was meditating heavily, but that was only part of it. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before..."   
  
"Well, it is quite evident that all races have an, ascension if you will, that allows their power to increase much higher than before. What is so fascinating about your case is that your power has jumped so much higher than any race has in a single transformation. According to our readings, your power level increases twenty times its normal maximum when you power up. "  
  
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Sabre knew that was a pretty accurate estimation.   
  
Resa's eyes widened. "Twenty?"  
  
"Yes, it is quite amazing," the Thrakan continued, "and, you are the only human we know of to transcend to this new level of power. You are the first of your race to become...this powerful. Frankly, you are the strongest person that we know of."  
  
"Well, uh, I'm flattered, but I don't know where to go from here."  
  
"That is exactly why I am here. We at...Blue Six are offering you a position in our agency."  
  
Sabre decided he wanted to test the water a little. "What if I say no?"  
  
The Thrakan was prepared for this. "Well, we are certainly in no position to stop you. You are free to do as you choose."  
  
"What if I choose to go on some sort of rampage, destroying planets and committing acts of genocide."  
  
"Well, Mr. Devaro, we know that is certainly within your power, but we do not see that as a likely outcome. You are not that sort of person."  
  
"Well," he thought, "he couldn't have handled that any better."  
  
"Alright, If I do accept your proposal, what am I in for?"  
  
The Major laughed. "Oh, I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. We have many things that will appeal to you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Most definitely. Right now we are headed to one of our outposts in the Catrel system. There you will be fully aquatinted with the way we operate."  
  
"So, what am I going to start out as?"  
  
"As a recruit. We will put you through the necessary courses relevant to the field you will be working in."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
The Thrakan gestured to the two Sayjin officers. "That is what they are here for. It will be a long ride, so there will be plenty of time for them to conduct the necessary interviews."  
  
"What's he here for?" Sabre gestured to the Namek.   
  
"Vora? He's a telepath. We brought him along so we could have an idea of what you are thinking about."  
  
"So, Vora, what do you think so far?" he prodded the stoic Namek.  
  
"He is...acceptable."  
  
"Acceptable?" Sabre said with mock resentment.  
  
"Don't worry, with Vora that is the best compliment you can get. Now I will leave you alone with the Lieutenants. Lieutenant D'Jana, if you'll come with me." Resa glanced at Sabre and he nodded, signaling that it was alright to leave him. She followed the Thrakan and Namek to the unusually large cockpit of the shuttle, separated from the cabin by two large cylindrical airlocks. When they finished cycling the officers approached him.   
  
The male officer spoke first, with a bit of apprehension in his voice. "Mr. Devaro, I guess we'll begin the, uh, interview now. Please, make yourself comfortable." The young officer hands were shaking pretty badly.  
  
"Look, I don't bite, Mr." he paused for a second and glanced at his name tag, "Vutura." The Sayjin was relieved that the human wasn't going to give him a hard time. He didn't know what to expect from him, but so far he liked what he was seeing.   
  
"At least he won't kill me right away." he thought.  
  
For the next three hours, the officers asked him questions ranging from his name, date of birth, and home address to the various fighting techniques he studied at the Academy. The female officer remained quiet throughout the entire line of questioning, and that meant only one thing. During a break from the inquisition, he approached her.  
  
"You're an empath, aren't you?"  
  
She smiled. "Yes, I am. How did you guess?"  
  
"Oh, well, the fact that you never talked and just stared at me kinda gave it away. You're not afraid of me, are you?"  
  
She laughed at that one.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked, perplexed.  
  
"You wouldn't hurt anyone. You're far too gentle."  
  
"The Dean didn't seem to think so."  
  
"Oh, well that's different. You know it too. You're not like that at all."  
  
Empaths were different from telepaths in that they felt another person's emotions, rather than reading their thoughts. Empaths could get an accurate reading on the type of person they were dealing with, whereas telepaths got an accurate reading on what they were thinking at that moment. Before he could continue the he heard the airlocks cycling. Resa and the Thrakan entered, and the Major apparently had some news for him.  
  
"Mr. Devaro, we will be arriving at the station shortly. This is where we part ways. You will be met by a captain and taken to the recruitment center where you will undergo your indoctrination."  
  
"Sounds fun."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
Sabre had only one question. "So, what about Resa?"  
  
"I assume you will want her to accompany you."   
  
"That's right." Sabre stated matter-of-factly.  
  
The Thrakan sighed. "Well, it is against standard operating procedures, but we assumed this would happen. Very well then, she may accompany you." Resa beamed at him.  
  
The Major motioned for the two lieutenants to follow him back to the cockpit, leaving Resa and Sabre behind.  
  
Resa was curious as to what the nature of questioning was, and they talked until the ship docked. Things began to move fast once the engines shut down. The port side doors opened and he and Resa exited onto a massive platform. When he looked about him he realized this was no ordinary space station. Before he had a chance to comment the captain the Thrakan had told him about greeted him and asked that they follow him.   
  
After walking for what seemed for about half an hour through a myriad of dull grey corridors, they came to compartment labeled "OpBreif".  
  
"Mr. Devaro, if you'll please step inside." the captain said.  
  
"What about-?" the captain cut him off.  
  
"The lieutenant will accompany me to debriefing. You will catch up with her later. You have some work ahead of you, Mr. Devaro, and I assure you, she will be the last thing on your mind."  
  
"Uh, okay." Sabre said, puzzled. He had no idea what the hell he was talking about.  
  
"If you will." the captain gestured to the door.  
  
He glanced back at Resa and smiled. "See you later."  
  
Resa met his smile with a look of worry in her eyes. Even though they held the gaze for only a moment, he knew something was up. He had never seen her look that concerned before.  
  
"Great," he thought, "it's probably some sort of mind game or some shit like that. Joy." He then stepped through the door.  
  
After crossing the threshold he noticed that the small room was empty, save for a table and chair in the middle. A voice seeming to come from the walls directed him to sit in the chair. As he approached it he heard a small hissing sound. Something hit him in the back of the neck. He tried to move but found that he couldn't; blackness clouded his field of vision. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.  
  



	11. Sabre, the FNG

11  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1610 Hours  
  
  
"So, Eve, here are a few of the guys we'll be with for quite a while," Sabre gestured to the figures standing in the palace. "The big green guy, his name is Piccolo. He's a Namek, and is kinda, well, boring. He won't talk much."   
  
Eve nodded her head, taking in the sight of her first alien.  
  
"The purple-haired guy is Trunks, he's about your age. The green haired woman with him is his mother, Bulma. From what I gather, she's a real piece of work."   
  
Eve chuckled.  
  
"Now, this is kinda strange, but the baby in her arms is also Trunks. The purple-haired guy standing over there is that baby come back in time 15 years."  
  
Her eyes widened. "They're both the same guy? But that's impossible!"  
  
"Hey, I didn't invent the rules of space-time. I told you, we deal with some weird stuff around here."  
  
"You weren't kidding..."  
  
"Oh, and you met Vegeta," he gestured to the dark-haired figure standing with arms crossed at the edge of the Lookout. "He is Trunks's dad."  
  
"Him?" she asked with amazement.  
  
"Yeah. He doesn't remind me of the fatherly type. Anyway, he'll either ignore or insult you the entire time. Most likely he'll do both."  
  
Her features saddened. "He reminds me of my dad. Bastard."  
  
Sabre knew it was time to change the subject. "Well, the rest of the guys will show up soon. Why don't you go over there and make some friends."  
  
She looked at him quizzically.  
  
"Don't worry, they won't bite your head off."  
  
"So you've met them already?"  
  
"Not exactly..."  
  
"Then how do you know all about them?" she inquired.  
  
"To make a long story short, I'm in the military. I read all sorts of intel reports on these guys before I came here. I know them better than they know themselves."  
  
"You're in the military?" she said, surprised yet again.  
  
Sabre sighed. "Yeah. Look, it's complicated. I have to get ready to brief all these guys in a few minutes, so just go over to Bulma and chat with her. She's quite...interesting. I will explain everything to all of you soon enough. They are just as in the darks as you are."  
  
"I don't...Oh, well, what the hell. Just don't take to long, okay?"  
  
"Sure."   
  
With that, Eve walked over to where the group was gathered.  
  
He thought to himself, "Man, I have to get her to not need me so bad. Maybe if she took a liking to Trunks..." he shook out the thought. He had more important matters to attend to.  
  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavily modified Sayjin scouter. He unfolded the compact machine and attached it to his ear, then pressed one of the buttons on the side. The device beeped to life, sending a flurry of information onto the eyepiece. Currently it was reading all of the ki levels of the Z fighters and their locations relative to him. No true fighters in the Coalition needed these scouters to detect power levels anymore, but they had been adapted for other uses, such as detecting mechanical energy sources. He pressed another button to switch settings, and a lone reading and direction popped up. The readout's signature belonged to Android 18. He took note of the direction, shut off the device, folded it back up, and put it into his pocket.  
  
Sabre turned back to the group and noticed that Bulma and Eve were chatting up a storm, with Trunks looking on, amused. Piccolo, as usual, had his back turned, lost in thought.   
  
"Hey, guys, I'll be right back, okay!" he shouted.  
  
"Okay!" Eve shouted in response. "Well, it certainly didn't take her long to detach herself from me," he thought.  
  
He flared his ki and flew off at the outer limits of subsonic speed. Once he was far enough out he increased speed, breaking the sound barrier. Not wanting to waste time, he really turned it up, pushing it to mach 9. He was on the android's position in three minutes.  
  
She had obviously felt his power and stopped to meet him in the air. The blonde android was hovering before him, dried tear marks clearly visible on her face.  
  
"Who are you?" she said, her voice as cold as ice.  
  
"My name is Sabre. I need you to come back with me to the Lookout, I have to explain some things."  
  
"So, you're the one who came out of nowhere?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You killed Android 17," she accused.  
  
"Acutally, it was Gohan..." his voice trailed off, relizing that this was about to blow up in his face.  
  
"Because of you he was killed! If you hadn't shown up, he could've been saved! I'm not going anywhere with you!" she cried, suddenly turning violent.   
  
He cursed himself. Things weren't supposed to go this way. The android threw her fist at his face, which he dodged easily.  
  
  
"Hey, look, I-"  
  
"Die!" she screamed, sending a kick to his head.   
  
Realizing that words weren't going to reach her, he deflected her kick and grabbed her arm. He then swung himself behind her, pulled her arm behind her back, and crossed his arm across her neck. She struggled for quite awhile to no avail, finally calming down, lowering her head.   
  
Resigned to the fact she was no match for him, she asked, "What do you want?"  
  
"All I want is for you to listen to me. Look, I'm sorry about your, er, brother, but there are more important things at stake here. Come back with me to the Lookout. I have to explain what's going on."  
  
"Fine," she sighed.  
  
"I'm going to let you go now."  
  
The android didn't respond, but he released his grip anyway. She then slowly turned around to face him, then slapped him in the face.   
  
"That is for Android 17," she said, her voice wavering.  
  
Sabre was stunned. Never before had anyone slapped him. It didn't really hurt, but being slapped? It was certainly a new experience. But there were more pressing matters at hand. He now felt that Goku and the others were back at the Lookout.  
  
"Okay, now we're even-"  
  
"Hardly," she icily interjected.  
  
"Fine, just give me your hand."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just do it."  
  
She extended her hand, and Sabre grabbed hold of his wrist. He locked on to the Lookout's position, concentrated, and with a blur, he and the android were there.   
  
The all of the people he wanted were there, and they were all staring at him and 18. Krillin had a surprised look on his face but said nothing.   
  
"Go over there," he said, gesturing to the group of warriors gathered in the center of the Lookout. "I have to do a little speech now."  
  
She didn't respond but walked over anyway, wordlessly taking position next to Krillin, who was obviously blushing.  
  
Sabre addressed the small crowd, "All right, I assume you guys have come to a decision?"  
  
Goku responded, "Yes, we have. After talking it over with everyone, we've decided to go with you. But, uh, Chi-Chi won't let Gohan go, she says he needs to study. I tried to convince her but-"  
  
The human interjected. "Don't worry, she can come with us."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"If it'll let the boy come with us. I am going to need each and every one of you if the plan is going to work."  
  
"What plan?" Piccolo asked.  
  
He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "Save the universe."  
  
Once again, Vegeta had to put his two-cents in. "Save the universe, who do you think you are kidding? The only reason why I've decided to go is to see if your little claim that there are other Sayjins out there is true. If there are, then I am their prince, and they will be under my rule."  
  
"Sorry Vegeta, but there won't be time for power trips. We are going to be at war."  
  
Yamcha spoke up. "War? What do you mean, war?"  
  
"This conflict that my people are in is the greatest war this side of the universe has ever seen. Now, here on earth, the weapons here are not powerful enough to hurt you. Were we are going, they are. Beam weapons, anti-matter bombs, high velocity plasma bullets, they are all enough to hurt even me. And I'm a lot stronger than you guys."  
  
"You want me to take baby Trunks into a war zone? No way! That's crazy!" Bulma cried.  
  
"Bulma, if this doesn't work out, it won't matter where your baby is. I can assure you that you and your son will be nowhere near the front lines."  
  
This at least seemed to calm the green-haired woman down.  
  
"Uh, I have a question," the voice belonging to Trunks.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Well, I guess you already know this, but I came back in time to fix some things in my world. Now, I know that didn't work, but I can't just leave the androids in my time to kill the rest of the people." he looked over angrily towards 18. "And then there is Cell."  
  
"Don't worry, it has already been taken care of."  
  
"What?" Trunks said with amazement.  
  
"Yes, my colleague, Resa D'Jana, has already destroyed the two androids plaguing your world. She left behind some technology that will be able to neutralize Cell when he makes his return. And, yes, your mother has been informed of all this."  
  
"But how--?"  
  
"Now, I'm sure you all have may questions, all of which will be answered on our flight to Coalition space."  
  
Krillin spoke up. "What?"  
  
"There is a transport in orbit awaiting my signal. It will be used to take us across the galaxy to the Coalition HQ."  
  
"But why don't we use our instant transmission technique to move everyone there?" Goku asked.  
  
"Because the distance is far too great, and transporting this many people is not safe."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Now everyone, listen up. If there are any personal effects you wish to bring with you, gather them up now. You are in this for the long haul. If things don't work out, none of us will ever come back here. So, Goku, I highly suggest you bring your wife along. I will call the ship down in one hour."  
  
"Well, guys, I guess we should start packing." Goku said   
  
With that, everyone who had something to bring left the tower. Only Eve, Vegeta, Android 18, and Piccolo remained.  
  
Sabre told Eve that anything she needed would be availabe to her on the ship. Bulma wanted to go back to Capsule Corp. to get some stuff, so Trunks took his mother in his arms and flew off. Gohan and Goku once again returned to Master Roshi's to get Chi-Chi, and Krillin went there as well. Yamcha and Tien went to their homes to gather their belongings. Every one had a million questions racing through their minds, and most were not even sure they should be following this complete stranger, possibly to their deaths. But after all, Goku was their unofficial leader, and he had never failed them before. They would follow him to hell and back.   
  
He would need to get them to trust him as much as they did Goku, but that would be a very difficult task indeed. Sabre knew all of this, and it was going to take some work to turn this group into a team, his team. The only thing he hadn't planned on was taking Eve, she was the unforeseen variable in the whole mess. She was the only one whom he knew nothing about, only that Dende said she was to find her destiny while with them.   
  
Now that the recruitment was over, training would have to begin, right on board the ship. It would be quite large enough to meet their needs. All the information that the warriors would want was prepared for them and waiting on the ship. They would then find out what they were up against. He only hoped they could prepare themselves for the coming onslaught.  



	12. A Taste of Things to Come...

12  
Earth, Sol System  
11.2.43  
1714 Hours  
  
The hour came and went, and in its passing all the warriors got what they needed. Goku and Gohan managed to convince Chi-Chi to come along, which she agreed to do, on the condition that Gohan would study as much as he trained. All had arrived precisely on time, and Sabre called down the transport using a small comm device.   
  
The mammoth pentagonal spacecraft, with a crew of only 12, had been waiting patiently in orbit since his arrival. Once they had received the signal they began to prepare the ship for orbital insertion, making the necessary trajectory and speed calculations. Its four giant engines roared to life, fueled by their fusion cores, and entered the earth's atmosphere.  
  
They heard it before they saw it. It sounded like distant thunder and that only became louder as it approached. The Lookout began to shake, subtly at first, then violently as the massive spacecraft came into view. The warriors were awed at what the saw. Never before had they seen a ship so large.  
  
As all wartime Coalition ships were, it was a battleship grey, bearing only the Galactic Coalition insignia and its name, the GCS Dante. Its engine wash threatened to blow away all of the group's luggage, and they had to use their bodies to shield it. But they too were in danger of being blown away. As the transport pulled up along side, dwarfing the lookout, it cut off its engines and switched to its AG (Anti-Gravity) drives. This was fortunate, because the Lookout was buckling. Now the deafening roar was replaced with a dull hum, and communication once again became possible.  
  
Sabre gave the final warning. "All right you guys, this is it. Once you set foot on that ship, there is no going back. As I said before, we are going into a war zone. Now, I as far as I know, only Trunks and Vegeta have had an inkling of what a devastated world looks like. For the rest of you, be prepared to see some disturbing things. With that said, has anyone here reconsidered?"  
  
No one said anything.  
  
"Fine then. Here is how we are going to board: I call out a name, you go on the ship. I have already made the bunking arrangements. Goku, you and your family will be together. Yamcha, Tien, and Krillin, you guys are roomies. Bulma and Trunks, you will be together as well. Vegeta, 18, and Piccolo, you three will have rooms all to yourselves. Is this satisfactory?"  
  
Vegeta was indignant. "As if I would room with any of these fools."  
  
Piccolo and the android nodded.  
  
Eve asked the obvious question. "What about me?"  
  
"Well, you weren't originally supposed to be here, so I guess you can sleep anywhere you want."  
  
Eve turned to her new friend. "Bulma, is it okay if I room with you and Trunks?"  
  
Bulma was agreeable. "Sure it is, honey! Just be prepared to deal with baby Trunks, he's quite a handful."  
  
"It's okay, I've been through worse..."  
  
Bulma had decided to bring her baby along after all. Her son was still a newborn, and being absent for almost the entire first year of his life is something she could not live with. Her child was going to be with her mother always, and she would do anything to protect him. Besides, she had reasoned that she would not bring herself to the front lines, thus ensuring the safety of her and her child.  
  
Sabre continued his speech.  
  
"So, here we go then. You will be escorted by one of the crewmembers to your rooms. Just follow their lead, it's easy to get lost on her, she's a big ship."   
  
With perfect timing, an airlock opened on the side of the ship and extended a ramp to the Lookout.   
  
"Okay, Goku, Gohan, and Chi-Chi, you guys are up first."   
  
The family gathered up their luggage (most of it was Chi-Chi's) and walked over to the ship. Goku hesitated for a moment, then stepped on the ramp. His wife and son followed his lead, and disappeared into the mammoth spacecraft. They were met by a junior Lieutenant and escorted to their room.  
  
"Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, you're up."   
  
The humans looked at him with a slight trace of suspicion in their eyes, but moved onto the ship without protest. They too were met by a Lieutenant and escorted to their room.  
  
And so the rest of the group took their turns boarding the ship. Sabre was the last one to get on the ramp and turned to take one final look at the earth. Dende was standing in the center of the Lookout, and Sabre called to him.  
  
"Hey, Dende! Don't worry, I'll bring 'em back in one piece!"  
  
The young Namek smiled and waved his hand. He got the same feeling he did from this human as he did Goku. He knew the Earth's champions would be in good hands. What he didn't know however, was if any of them were to return. When the airlock closed behind the vistor's back, he knew he would never agian return to the earth.   
  
The transport pulled away from the Lookout and began its ascent. After a few moments, it shut down its AG drives and reactivated its main engines. The Lookout was rocked with another blast as the ship shot off into space at an incredible speed, its massive grey frame fading to a point of light in the distance. Thanks to the wonders of intertial dampening, no one except the crew and Sabre knew they were moving.   
  
All of the warriors were escorted to their rooms without incident. On all of the beds were an itinerary and and a layout of the ship. All of the cabins on board were on Deck 12. Vegeta's and Piccolo's were at the end. The the humans' room was next to Vegeta's, and Goku's cabin was next to Piccolo's. To the right of the humans' room was 18's. In-between Vegeta's and Piccolo's was Trunks's cabin. Each room was the same size with the same accomodations. They were all fairly large and there were four full beds in each, a single bathroom, and a closet. Once everyone had finished their packing they consulted the itinerary. They were to meet Sabre in the empty cargo section of the ship that had been turned into a training room. They all arrived on time, except for Goku and Gohan, who had trouble reading the map. The group was gathered around the door that lead into the training room.   
  
"Well, now that we're all here, I guess we can step inside." Sabre said with a hint of agitation.   
  
When they had all stepped through they were surprised at what they saw. All of the walls were lined with solid white paneling, as was the floor. Halfway along the right hand wall was the control room for the chamber. A long rectangular window gave those in the control room a safe place to view the action inside. On certain areas of the chamber were what looked to be hatches from which various devices could enter. While not as impressive as the time chamber in the Lookout, it seemed pretty formidable.  
  
"Here are a few facts about this room," Sabre began, "Due to the fact that were are onboard a ship, this room can only supply up to 750 times normal gravity." Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien began to look doubtful. "Any more than that would implode the ship. Temperatures can be raised up to 1200 degrees farenheight or lowered to 1200 below zero. I would suggest that you do not power down in those extreme temperatures, unless you want to burst into flames or freeze solid." The humans looked sick. "The walls are layered with energy reflecting materials, so don't worry about stray blasts. You do have to worry about cracking them with stray blows, though. This room is equipped with automated weapons that you will come into contact with while we are in battle. The Sayjins will go up agianst them first, just so I can gauge your strengths."  
  
"What do we do during all this?" Bulma asked with baby in arms.  
  
"You, Eve, and Chi-Chi are welcome to watch from the control room. I wouldn't recommend staying in here during the training."  
  
Chi-Chi, who hadn't said a word until now, spoke up. "What about my Gohan? I don't want him in here all the time training. He needs to keep up with his studies. When this is all over h-"  
  
Sabre cut her off. He was going to have to set a few things straight. "Ma'am, I don't know if you truly appreciate the situation here. We are going to a WAR. This upcomming battle may very well decide the fate of the universe, and you are concerned about you son's studying? Frankly, I don't even know if this will even work. We may all end up being killed anyway, so I don't think your son's acedemic prowess is going to be worth a damn."  
  
Chi-Chi's face turned beet red, but she said nothing.   
  
"Hey!-" Goku began.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, but your wife needed to be told what's really going on here."  
  
"You mean this may all be a suicide mission?" Krillin asked.  
  
"Yeah, ain't that a bitch. Well, it's too late to turn back now. I suggest you stop worrying and we begin training immediately."  
  
"Yes, please, could we?" Vegeta asked sarcastically.  
  
"Okay, this is how it's gonna be. All the Sayjins will be up first. Everyone else, you can watch from the control room or wait outside."  
  
Everyone decided to watch. After they shut the door to the control room they were directed to seats from where they could best view the action. Two crew members were the control room's operators.  
  
"Okay, all of you line up so you are an arm's length apart."  
  
The Sayjin's did as they were told, each wondering what was going to happen next.  
  
"Now, I want to watch each of you power up to you max as fast as you can. Trunks, you go first."  
  
The half-Sayjin nodded his head and got into position. He pulled his arms into his sides, looked down, and began to focus his energy. The air around him began to become distorted with the heat from his energy. His hair began to dance around his shoulders, then in a burst of energy flashed gold. Simultaneously, his eyes turned turquoise and his muscles inflated with power. His hair became spiked and stood out from his head like needles. His muscles continued to inflate in until they were almost twice their normal size. When he finished he spoke.  
  
"This is as strong as I can get before I start to lose speed."  
  
"Alright, not bad. Vegeta, your turn."  
  
Normally, Vegeta would have made some cocky remark about what a Sayjin's true power looked like, but he said nothing knowing that Gohan had taken it to a whole new level.  
  
Vegeta took about half the time to power up, simply crossing his arms in the process. His normally small frame was pumped to its max, his jet black hair now the color of a super-Sayjin.  
  
"Happy now? I don't know what you are trying to prove."  
  
"You'll see. Goku, you're up."  
  
Goku put on his cocky smile. He crossed his arms in front of his head and powered up. Since he was already a super-Sayjin, the only noticible differences were his muscles's slight increase in size. However, his ki skyrocketed, and Sabre felt that his power was much greater than that of Trunks or Vegeta. They felt this too, but said nothing.  
  
"Alright kid, show me what you got."  
  
Gohan nodded his head and began his charge up. His stance was identical to that of Goku's. Sabre noted that even though this boy was extremely powerful, he was still only a boy. He was still attached to his father, and looked up to him for guidance. He wished his father was still alive...  
  
The boy continued his power up, and soon blue streaks of electricity began to dance around him. Eventually, they began to crawl over his body as he ascended to SSJ2. Goku looked on at his son with pride, knowing that power next to him was of his own blood. Trunks saw the pride in Goku's eyes and wished his father would at least acknowledge him as his son. He didn't understand why he was so cold...  
  
Gohan finished charging and stood before the human with a smile on his face.   
  
"Not bad kid, not bad at all. Well, you guys as a group are pretty impressive. I must say that you are bit stronger than my fomer squad was, and that's great. But you guys still need a lot of work to reach my level. I'm not worried though, I know how much you Sayjins love a challenge."   
  
Vegeta, being blunt as usual, lashed out.  
  
"What do you know about we Sayjins? How can you pretend to even begin to understand our race?"  
  
"Well, Vegeta, as I said before, there are Sayjins in the Coalition. Right now three Sayjin fleet elements are in a suicide engagement in order to buy us some time. And, my best friend is a Sayjin. But I still don't think you believe me, and I know you don't like me. Now you'll see what you're going to be up against in the field."  
  
"What?" Goku asked.  
  
"Mounted within these walls are numerous weapons platforms, all of which will be on the battlefield. I want to see how you react to being shot at. I would be careful if I were you..." Once he finished speaking he blurred into the control room and pressed a series of buttons. The lights in the chamber dimmed and the sound of mechanical lifts and hydraulic pumps could be heard. Simultaneously, panels all over the wall pushed forward and slid to the side, revealing a variety of weapons.   
  
Back in the control room, Sabre pressed a few more buttons and a warning claxon sounded, signaling that the weapons were armed and ready to fire. In front of the two crew member's control screens were wire frame represntations of the four Sayjins in the chamber. On each of the screens were the vital signs of the combatants. Currently, all of the wire frames were green. Sabre pressed single button and the weapons were sent into free fire mode.   
  
Back in the chamber the four warriors looked around at the firepower aimed at them, not fully apprecating the strength of the weapons. All of the ordinance locked on to a target and began to fire. The room was rocked with the sound of weapons fire and illuminated with the flash of automatic guns.   
  
"Hah, what does this fool think he's doing? These pathetic weapons won't-" Vegeta's gloating was cut short when a shell from a cannon exploded behind him, sending shrapnel into his back and knocking him to his knees. Various energy weapons began tracking the fighters, spraying fire with deadly accuracy at their targets. Trunks was cut down by a volley from a heavy machine gun, the bullets hitting him with such concussive force as to render him unconscious. A shot from a railgun put a six inch hole hole through Vegeta's chest, just below his collar bone. Goku did his best to evade the malestrom of fire but was hit anyway when an anti-matter grenade exploded directly in front of him, blinding him and shredding his face up pretty badly. All he could feel was the pain before a recoiless rifle knocked him into merciful unconsciousness. Gohan simply stood still as the weapons deflected harmlessly off the energy shield he erected. When he saw his father go down he flew over to his aid. At the far end of the chamber, a beam cannon had finished its charge and locked on to the only remaining target.  
  
In the control room, everyone was shocked to see three of the Sayjins go down in a matter of seconds. Chi-Chi had already fainted, and even android 18 was surprised at the viciousness of the action in the chamber. All of the spectators focused on the last Sayjin.   
Gohan was kneeling over his father when he looked up to see a huge red beam barreling at him. He braced to block it, but was ripped off his feet when the blast hit him. He was engulfed in the beam and blasted into the wall with enough force to crack the reinforced tile he hit. The beam continued firing, pinning Gohan to the wall. All of the weapons in the room now locked onto the immobilized Gohan and added their volleys to the blast. When the beam weapon's fire dissapated, it was replaced with the din of pulse, plasma, and recoiless rifles, heavy machine guns, plasma cannons, and anti-matter grenades.   
  
The guns in the chamber were linked up to the control room's scanners and ceased fire when Gohan's wire frame representation went red. There being no targets left, the weapons pulled back into their concealed positions. Sabre punched up a command on a keyboard and blurred into the chamber. He took stock of the fallen warriors and found them to be in pretty bad shape. Trunks was knocked clean out. Vegeta was bleeding profusely from the hole in his chest, all the while writhing in agony. Goku's face was a mangled pulp and his son's broken body was at the near end of the chamber. All had lost their golden auras. The room itsef was hardly scratched, the reflective materials had worked perfectly. Only the cracked panel Gohan had hit was damaged.  
  
Sabre shook his head at the ease with which the Sayjins had gone down. "They may be excellent fighters, but they were never trained to fight in a war," he thought. He reached into his pocket and removed four more pills from a container. He dispensed one to each of the Saiyans, returining them to full health. They regained consciousness immediately and stood up, shocked at what had just happened.  
  
"I told you. It's going to be dangerous. You have much training to do before I can put you in the field. But, then again, that's why were in here."  
  
"Guns are for cowards," Vegeta snarled.  
  
"That may be so, but then what does make you, being so easily beaten by them."   
  
"Arrgh! I don't have to take this!" Vegeta shouted as he stormed out of the room.  
  
"Forgive my father h--" Trunks began  
  
Sabre raised a hand. "It's okay."  
  
"Gosh, I never thought that those things would be so strong." Gohan said, rubbing his head.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm surprised you guys held up as well as you did. These weapons were at full power, so it won't be too long before you learn how to effectively counter them. And, since I just healed you guys from near death, you should be a fair bit stronger."  
  
The three remaining Sayjins reflected on this but said nothing. Back in the control room, all of its occupants were relieved that their champions were back to full health.  
  
"Now what do we do?" Goku asked.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll take a break. I know your friends back in the control room won't want to set foot in here after what they just saw. We can begin your breifing on the Necrons, if you want."  
  
"Well, sure. It'd be nice to know what I'm up against."  
  
Sabre looked Goku in the eyes.   
  
"You'll wish you didn't."  



	13. Breakdown

13  
Blue Six Compound, Vega System  
07.15.34  
1242 Hours  
  
  
He awoke to a throbbing headache and severe nausea. The first thing he noticed besides the pain was that the room he was in had no lights. It was pitch black. He got to his feet and stumbled about for a bit, trying to find a wall on which to prop himself. After falling flat on his face numerous times he gave up the attempt and sprawled himself on the floor. He racked his brain trying to remember what happened.  
  
"I was...in a room...something hit me...shit, they must've drugged me. I wonder what they did to me...damn it I'm gonna puke..."  
  
After vomiting heavily on the floor he remembered he hadn't eaten since lunch, which he remembered to be over 24 hours ago. Then came the dry heaves. Those were the worst. About 15 minutes later he felt well enough to stand again and did so with quite a bit of effort. Suddenly he was blinded with a spotlight pointed directly in his face.   
  
"Shit...here they come," he thought.  
  
"Ahhh. Mr. Devaro, are we feeling better now?" It was the voice of the Thrakan whom had picked him up. He was talking through an intercom.  
  
"Go to hell. I knew you bastards would pull something like this."  
  
"Oh really? Then why did you step into the room?"  
  
"What was I supposed to do?"  
  
"Whatever you wanted to. You have, er, had an unstoppable power, why didn't you take full advantage of it?"  
  
"You twisted bastards, I know what you're doing. Using some lame-ass psychological mind game, you're pathetic. Come in here and face me."  
  
There was a slight pause, then, "As you wish, Mr. Devaro."  
  
The spotlight was taken out of his face and he once again returned to darkness. A few moments passed, then two doors slid apart, flooding the room with light. He had to shield his eyes from the onslaught of illumination. The Thrakan's figure was silouhetted against the light, making him look like some sort of heavenly being come to save him. But Sabre knew better.  
  
"What's the matter Mr. Devaro? Are we not feeling well?" The Thrakan chuckled, sending chills down the human's spine.  
  
"What do you want from me?"  
  
"That's simple, all we want is your cooperation."  
  
"Then why go through all this?"   
  
"Because we can not afford to take any risks. You know as well as I do that we would have had to take some...preventative actions."  
  
"What did you do to me?" Sabre asked in a low voice.  
  
"Oh, Mr. Devaro, we did all sorts of things to you. I think you will be shocked to find out that you have been in this installation for three weeks."  
  
Sabre's only reply was the stunned look on his face.  
  
"That's right. Three weeks. I am not lying to you." The Thrakan began to circle him. "Are you sure you want to know what we did to you? You're memory was wiped for a reason."  
  
Sabre wanted to kill the patronizing alien. He tried to raise his power level but found he was still far too weak to try anything of the sort.  
  
"Tell me what you did."  
  
"Ooooh, aren't we brave? Well, first we dissected you. We took you apart piece by peace. We kept your consciousness in a state of suspended animation while we picked at your body."  
  
"Why did you do that?" The thought made him sick.  
  
"We thought your transformation may have been something biological, something genetic."  
  
"What did you find?"  
  
"Nothing. We really didn't expect to, but or surgeons weren't going to pass up a chance to vivisect someone. After we put everything back in place and sewed you back up, we had a group of telepaths perform a mapping of your mind. We now know everything you do, Mr. Devaro. Every thought, dream, emotion, crush, enemy...anything and everything that has ever been in your mind is now known to us. You weren't very cooperative, though."  
  
"What do you mean? Did I not take kindly to you invading my mind?"  
  
"No, not really. In fact, we had to put you under heavy sedation just to allow our telepaths to work. You were quite violent, Mr. Devaro. It wasn't a pretty sight. You destroyed three rooms before we got everything we wanted."  
  
"Did you like what you found? Was it worth it?" The human asked in a shaky voice, his rage beginning to surface. Why the hell didn't you just ask me!? What in the goddamned hell was so important that you had to do this to me!?" Jake screamed. Sabre was no longer the appropriate name for him. He was becoming that human who wouldn't amount to anything. He was losing control of his emotions, something he hadn't done in a long time.  
  
"Ahh...do you now see why we didn't just ask you? You are very unstable, Mr. Devaro, you aren't as cool and calm as you seem to be. Your mind is very...troubled."  
  
Jake knew this to be true. Not even Resa knew the extent of his inner turmoil. There had always been something dark stirring within him, ever since that day on Vertana Prime. He had always tried to suppress those memories, the terrible things that were done to him, the things he had done to others. But some days the nightmares still came.  
  
"Does...does Resa know?" was all he could ask.  
  
"You'll be happy to know that we keep all of our psychological anylizations confidential. Even yours. No, Lieutenant Resa does not know what really happened to your family, nor does she know what really happened to the people who murdered them. We may be morally bankrupt here, Mr. Devaro, but we are not cruel."  
  
It was a great relief that Resa did not know about those horrid days of his past. She could never understand. He was afraid if she found out she would never look at him the same way...and he would lose her forever. Jake could never live without her.  
  
"So, Mr. Devaro, I want to hear you tell the tale, in your own words, of the raid on Vertana Prime. Oh, we know your memories, but hearing you tell it to us makes it so much more...realistic."  
  
The defiant part of the human tried to suppress his voice, but the rest of him had to tell this story; he had kept it to himself for far too long. He shifted his gaze downward, focusing his view on a point on the floor.  
  
"It was cold...that's what I remember most, it was cold..." Jake began, the memories flooding to the surface. "It had been snowing for about a week...I was outside with my sister when I heard the sirens..."  
  
"What set the sirens off?" prodded the Thrakan.  
  
"It was those damned Danti pirates...I can still see their green ships...their insignias. They had been raiding the Vertana system for weeks, but had left our planet alone...no one thought they would be strong enough to...to take on the biggest colony in the system."  
  
"But they were, weren't they?"  
  
Jake had to focus hard to remember the next events, all the while his stomach was twisting in turning in anxiety.  
  
"Oh, God, there were so many of them...I had never seen anything like it, not even in the movies...They blocked out the sun, it, it got real dark, like it was night, but it was two in the afternoon. Sis got scared and ran home, but I just stayed there...Damn it!" The broken human cried.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"If I had gone back, I could have, I could've..."  
  
"Been killed like the rest of them? You're friends, your family, all of them were killed together, weren't they? A lot of good you would have done. You'd have been just another corpse."  
  
Jake was starting to lose his grip on reality. His memories were intertwining with the present and he was becoming delirious.   
  
"When I came home, I couldn't see anything...it was so black...the door was open...I saw something on the ground, it was thick, dark, I could see it when the searchlights from the ships swept by..."  
  
The human was shaking now, and tears started to trickle down his face. The Thrakan just looked on impassively.   
  
"I followed the trail upstairs, into my parents room...then, then, oh God, then a light hit the window, I was blinded for a second, but for an instant...I saw them all...there was so much blood...so much blood...they had all been shot in the head, they were on their knees... they were begging for their lives and those motherfuckers shot them anyway!" Jake was really shaking now. His body was rocked in tremors, but his voice was still understandable. Tears were flowing freely down his face. It was fascinating, the brain had stopped registering the body's responses. His autonomic functions were in tact, but the rest of his body was not. The body was reacting to the emotions, but the brain was not.  
  
"What did you do next?"   
  
"I ran. I ran as far as I could. I had to get away, I couldn't end up like them...I had to avenge them. I hid in a cave for about a week, I came out only because I was starving. I...I found some food to eat back in the town, but I had to keep hiding from the pirates...I couldn't let them see me. They were garrisoning the planet, turning it into their base of operations...I wasn't going to let those bastards get away..."  
  
The tremors had subsided now, as had the tears.  
  
"And you didn't did you?"  
  
"I was...too weak to fight them...they were really strong...I was only 10...but, but I found one of them sleeping...sleeping in my sister's bed. His gun was on the floor, he must've passed out...I think he was drunk...I picked up the gun, it was heavy, it must've weighed at least twenty pounds...I pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger. His head exploded off his shoulders, blood and, and brain matter sprayed all over the pink wallpaper...I had killed for the first time."  
  
"How did you feel?"  
  
"I, I felt nothing. It was so...strange...I couldn't make the connection that I had killed someone...I went back outside. It was early morning by then, and just like the guy in my house, everyone was sleeping. So I went around, shooting everyone I found. Men, women, it made no difference to me. They were all the same. Goddamed pirates. I had got about fifty of them before someone woke up. When the alarm sounded...I dropped the gun and ran...I was such a coward..."  
  
"Really? You just killed fifty of those horrible people. That doesn't sound cowardly."  
  
"Yeah...but they were sleeping. I hid for a few more days...back in the cave. They started to send out search parties...they were looking for me. I kinda watched them from in the cave...got a feel for their patterns. When I thought I had it down, I ran as fast as I could."  
  
"Where did you run?"  
  
"Into, into the woods. It didn't work though, I got turned around...I was back at the edge of the colony...that was where I found it..."  
  
"What did you find?"  
  
"I...I didn't know what it was at first...it was just a hole in the ground, I saw something shiny...I thought it could've been a gun so I went to pick it up."  
  
"It wasn't a gun, was it, Mr. Devaro?"  
  
"No...it was an anti-matter bomb. I had heard about them before, they said they were going to bury one in the woods...just in case something happened. There was an operator's manual, it was in Latin, the language our people used when we wanted to encrypt something. Heh, we all had to learn it in school. I read over the instructions...I learned how to use it, but..." his voice trailed off.  
  
"But what? Were you afraid to use it?"  
  
The tears started to come back. "Yes, yes, I was. I though maybe there could've been some survivors left...maybe they were hiding. I decided to use it anyway. It was small, you know. I could carry it real easy with two hands. I snuck back into town, they hadn't erected any real defenses yet...I put it in my room. I set the timer for an hour...and put it under my bed. Then I ran again. I ran as fast and as far as I could. I managed to reach some hills before I collapsed. I turned back to the colony and saw it."  
  
"Saw what?"  
  
Jake paused and remembered the next horrible moments. "The explosion. It was so bright I had to cover my eyes...I could see the shockwave. It moved so fast, it just vaporized everything...when I looked back...it was all gone. Everything. My home had just become an empty crater, because of me."  
  
"But those pirates were going to turn it into there base anyway, and besides, wasn't everyone you cared for dead already?" The Thrakan said in a sarcastic voice. He knew full well that there were survivors of the initial raid. They had managed to establish a link with the local space force and were feeding info to them when the line went dead. No one knew exactly what happened until a few days ago. Now he was hearing it from the man who caused it.  
  
"No, they weren't it. There were survivors...I didn't know, I didn't know..." Jake fell to his knees.  
  
"Well, Mr. Devaro, thanks to your rather brash actions, you managed to kill all 20,000 of the invading pirates, but you also incinerated 2,300 of your fellow colony members. Oops."  
  
Jake couldn't respond. He was no longer in the room, he was no longer in the past. His feelings of guilt and remorse were gone. He was now comatose. The Thrakan took note of this and left the room. Medics came in and took the zombie-like human to the infirmary. It was finally over, at least for the mental conditioning.   
  
The Major was glad. He always hated this part. Breaking someone down like that was one of the most unpleasant things he knew of. To see someone so completely broken...it made him sick. But it was necessary. Now he would have time to heal. They would build him back up, make him better than he was before. They would leave the bulk of his core personality intact. Trying to radically alter a sentient being's mind had always led to...less than spectacular results. They would merely make him more suitable to military life.   
  
The Major also knew this human was more than just a new operative. He was the strongest fighter in existence. His power readings were off the scales, yet they did not know how he had transcended to this new level of power. He was the only one that could tell them that. And another thing was troubling.  
  
While the psychics were working their magic, they had come across a nightmare that he had experienced. What was so different about it was the fact that it was not generated by his mind alone. Something else, something completely alien had also been involved. While the exact details could not be revealed, they knew it was of some significance. It may have even been the trigger for the human's transformation. Only he could tell them exactly what had happened.  
  
So, his recovery would begin. Resa, unknown to Jake, had been there the entire time. She knew what was going to happen to him because it had already been done to her. She was so scared for him it made her sick. She forced herself to watch everything that had happened though, she at least owed him that. Resa knew she loved him. She didn't know when that had happened, all she knew was that someday, she would share her feelings with him.  
  
But there would be time for that later. Now it was time for the healing to begin, and the training to commence. They were to be partners now, mostly because they were so compatible. A new chapter in their lives had begun, just as another had ended. What no one knew, except perhaps Jake, was that something had been awakened. And when it came to find what had stirred it from its sleep, nothing would ever be the same. The seeds of a great war had been sewn, and soon the Destroyers of Worlds would come to reap the harvest.  



	14. The Destroyers of Worlds

14  
  
They are the oldest race in the entire universe. When the first star collapsed in upon itself, they were born. Living in the event horizon of black holes, they dance the thin line between existence and nothingness. Their species is spread throughout the entire fabric of reality, inhabiting every area in the universe. They have annihilated thousands of sentient species, destroyed millions of worlds, and taken trillions of lives, yet they are not evil.  
  
They harbor no emotions at all. When they kill, they do so without malevolence, without anger, without spite. They are indifferent to the suffering of other beings because they themselves cannot feel pain. They are a race whose sole purpose, their reason for existence, is to destroy. They are the culmination of nature's most basic principle: survival of the fittest. They keep a silent vigil from their home on the edge of reality waiting for a sign. It may come in many forms, but there is always an event that signals the height of a civilization's evolution. Once receive that signal, they leave their black depths and proceed to determine whether or not the species was fit to exist. Their cousins had discovered races that were worthy of surviving, and left them to flourish in their own galaxies. But these had not.   
  
They have had many names throughout the millennia, each one being given to them by a race whom they wiped out of existence. Their latest is Necron. No one before had discovered what motivated them, what drove them to destroy. It is not for gaining of territory, for they extinguish suns and annihilate planets. It is not for pleasure, for they could never understand the feeling. It is not for revenge, for they have never been wronged. It is not out of evilness, for they are no more evil than a hurricane or super nova. But someone figured it out.  
  
The race that was believed to have assembled the species upon the planets of Tycho were they. Known as the Amnae, they were once a great federation of planets just as the Coalition was. They were a beautiful species, taking pleasure in creation and the betterment of themselves. They knew of ki, and used to shape the definition of their race. The Amnae were at the height of their cultural evolution while man was hunting mastodons and living in caves. Their leaders possessed great powers, and would have been nearly unstoppable warriors if they had known what war was. Then they came.  
  
In the Amnae tongue they were called the Destroyers of Worlds, and nearly wiped out the entire Amnae species. World after world of prosperity fell to the invaders. A few Amnae however, managed to escape and fled far away from their burning civilization. They discovered the reason for the Destroyers' actions, the method to their madness.   
  
Knowing the reason for their defeat lay in their inherent passiveness, a ragtag group of refugees searched a foreign part of the galaxy for an answer to their dilemma. There was little sentient life in the area, and those that existed were quite primitive and disorganized. But the Amnae survivors knew they had potential.   
  
Gathering the most prospective species, they deposited them on the four inhabitable planets of a large star system. The Amnae left behind various, basic units of technogy in hopes that the fledgling races would learn, in time, to use them. They knew the only way to defeat the Destroyers was to wage war against them, something the Amnae could not do. Once the gathering was complete, they left that galaxy and continued their relocating until the invader's fleet tracked them down. The Amnae were wiped out of existence a thousand years before the rise of the Coalition.  
  
So it was now the time of the Galactic Coaltion to prove themselves. They did not know it, but they were being given the test to determine whether they were fit to survive. They had an advantage over their Amnae forefathers in that they knew of war. In fact, they were much more violent that the Amnae could have dreamed. But, they managed to assemble a system that worked, despite all the suffering, wars, and persecution they had inflicted upon themselves. They would wage the greatest war in the history of their universe to find if they were fit to exist.   
  
To their luck, the Coalition had managed to develop weapons and vehicles nearly on par with the Necrons. Space was the only place where the battlefield was truly equal. In the manipulation of ki however, they still had great leaps to make before they could compete with Necron fighters. But in the middle of the great war, a small group of warriors was assembling. They would push themselves to the very limits of their being. Their sole focus was to become stronger, faster, and better. They would be the ones to challenge the Necrons' greatest destroyers.   
  
Once the final battle was joined, it would be known if the small band of warriors could ensure the survival of the Coalition. No one knew how it would turn out, but it was certain that when the smoke had cleared and the dust had settled, nothing would ever be the same.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
So, that's all for now folks! Chapter fifteen will be done sometime this weekend. Now I am out of prewritten material, so it may be awhile between updates. But do not fear, my friends, I shall return... 


	15. Disaster

15  
11.2.43  
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System  
1821 Hours  
  
  
Sabre lead the group through a series of corridors and lifts to the briefing room. It was large enough to seat the earthlings' entire party. The right-hand side of the room was basically a long window, made from a super-dense glass-diamond compound, and gave them a beautiful panorama of space. Currently the view was taken up by a fantastic binary star system. The travelers from earth were enthralled at the sight.   
  
They had dropped out of warp speed to make some adjustments to the reactors and re-calculate their trajectory. Even a slight deviation in course could end up putting them through a sun, asteroid, or other spacial hazard. That could certainly put a dampener on his mission.  
  
Sabre could sense an aura of tension amongst the group. The earlier display in the training chamber had had more of a negative impact than he had hoped. One thing he had forgotten to take into account was the fact that they had been training pretty heavily for the past four years. During their fight with Cell, they realized that they were much weaker than they had wanted to be. Now he had just threw them into a room that made them feel even worse. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot  
  
The group seated themselves and turned their attention to Sabre.   
  
"First off, I want to let you know that this is just a preliminary briefing. There is way too much information to go through in one sitting. So I'll just go through the basics."  
  
Sabre pushed a button on the table and the lights dimmed. A viewscreen descended from the ceiling and flickered to life. It was positioned directly in the center of the room, and could be viewed from either side. A picture of a black alien appeared on the screen.  
  
"This is the enemy. We call them the Necrons. We have been unable to communicate with them in any way. All attempts at peaceful contact have resulted in the destruction of our envoy. What you are seeing is a standard infantryman."  
  
The black figure was certainly intimidating. It was covered with a variety of devices that were attached to its armor. It was bipedal, just as all known sentient life was, and had four appendages, two arms and two legs. A scale next to the creature read it to be seven and a half feet tall. The ebony alien had blood red eyes but was without a mouth or nose. Its head was completely bald with a series of jagged lines crisscrossing its skull. In its hands was a large gun unfamiliar to all of the Z warriors.  
  
"They aren't too much to worry about, and have a power level of only about fifty thousand or so. The guns they carry are much more effective however, and are equivalent to a blast from a warrior with a power level of about a million. Still, you guys don't have to worry about them."  
  
Sabre flashed through a few more pictures of lower-class warriors and described their various strengths and weaknesses. He didn't spend too much time on them however, because that job would fall to regular army and marine units. He stopped at an image of a rather small looking fighter with a large, almost spherical head.  
  
"Okay, here is where things start to get interesting. These guys are no more than five feet tall and don't have much fighting power, but they can still cause serious problems. You see, these guys put false images in your minds. They can make you believe all sorts of things, like you friends are dead or that your unit is retreating. There is no way to distinguish the false images from reality. If you see one of these guys, take 'em out as fast as you can."  
  
"How is that possible?" Tien asked.   
  
"Frankly, no one is really sure. We know next to nothing about these aliens. All the information being shown to you here is the totality of what we know. Most of it is still classified. Like I said, the only time we meet these things is in battle."  
  
"Do you even know where these things came from?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Not exactly. We know they came from sector 1542, which is about eight hundred light years from the Coalition's farthest borders. We thought it was a dead sector, because it had only three active stars. The rest of it was nothing but black holes. We found them when they were still about a year away, and we tracked their movements. As soon as they hit our first colony, the shit hit the fan. We've been at war ever since."  
  
"How come these things have come out now? The Saiyan Empire never encountered anything like this. My father would have mentioned something to me." Vegeta stated.  
  
"Well, I'm not in intel, but as far as I know, this is the first time that anyone has come across these things."   
  
Sabre couldn't have known how wrong he was.  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
The room was silent. A new picture flashed onto the screen and they immediately recognized it. It was the thing that had followed Sabre to Earth.   
  
"Yeah, you all saw one of these guys back when I landed here. They are assassins. The one that followed me here happened to be a rather weak. Their power levels can range anywhere from twenty million to two hundred million. They are nearly impossible to detect, and you cannot sense their energy. The only way I am able to see them is with my augmented vision. As you can see, they appear to be just outlines of a being. In fact, they absorb all the light around them, making them completely black. They have no discernable features whatsoever. Using an advanced cloaking field, they make themselves totally invisible to the naked eye and most scanners. They can walk up to you in broad daylight and snap your neck, and you never would have noticed anything out of the ordinary."   
  
Chi-Chi spoke up. "Look, I'm sorry, but this is too much. How are our guys supposed to be able to defend themselves against these things? The way you are describing these Necrons, it seems you are just recruiting them to die! And for what, your silly little empire?"  
  
Sabre sighed. This woman was too much. But then again, how would he feel if their roles were reversed? Having your husband and son recruited to fight in some far off war for a cause they had no interest in seemed absurd. He needed a drink.   
  
"Ma'am you have a valid point. I can understand where you are coming from. But the Coalition is not an Empire. We do not subjugate others, we do not force anyone to do anything they don't want to. We are an alliance of worlds to protect all that we hold dear from threats both alien and domestic. All we d-"  
  
Chi-Chi cut him off. "Save your speech for a cadet or whatever you call them. I just want to know if there is even a chance my husband and son will come out of this. I don't want to be a widow or the mother of a dead child. How bad is this situation anyway?"  
  
Sabre became very sober. He reflected on the billions of lives already lost. How many wives had become widows? How many mothers lost their boys and girls to an enemy that they didn't even understand? For the first time he began to wonder about the plausibility of his mission.   
  
"Ma'am, I-" he began. He was going to say something heroic and encouraging, but that would have been a lie. "It's bad. Real bad."  
  
"That's all I wanted to know." She said softly. Chi-Chi looked sick. The entire room seemed to be weighed down with a sense of dread, and even Vegeta and Goku looked concerned. If this super-powerful stranger couldn't even handle these creatures, then things were bad indeed.  
  
Sabre continued the briefing for another hour. He went through all the enemies that they would encounter on the battlefield, along with the weapons they would be armed with. However, he did not discuss the cyborgs. Krillin took note of this.  
  
"Hey Sabre," Krillin said, "what about those cyborg thingies you talked about?"  
  
He paused for a moment. "That is another matter in itself. We'll talk about them sometime in the future. That should be all for now. From here, you can wander the ship for as long as you want. Tomorrow is when the training begins. I want you all to get a good night's rest. We'll meet in the chamber at 0600 hours. Eve, Chi-Chi, and Bulma, you are more than welcome to watch. If not, Bulma, we have plenty of technical information for you to delve into. It would be pretty handy to have someone with your abilities around to help. Chi-Chi, we can always use another cook."  
  
"Cook?"  
  
"Yeah, we can familiarize you with the technology we used too prepare food. It'd be nice to have a decent meal for a change."  
  
Chi-Chi looked resentful but said nothing.  
  
Once again, Eve asked the question that seemed to define her life. "What about me?"  
  
"You...uhhh...you can do whatever, I guess. I can give you a tour of the ship, if you like."  
  
"That's cool."  
  
"Okay, then, I guess you can go off and explore. She's a big ship, so you'll be able to wander her for a while. Oh, and don't go into any rooms marked "Danger" or "Crew Members Only" I don't want you to blow us up."  
  
With that, everyone in the room dispersed. Eve stayed behind.  
  
"So...Jake, why did that little bald guy call you Sabre?"  
  
"Well, I haven't told them my real name...it isn't appropriate yet."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Look, I have my reasons, I will tell them some time in the future. Don't worry about it." The tone in his voice let her know that the subject was closed.  
  
"So..."  
  
"Yeah, uh, how 'bout we go for a walk?"  
  
"That'd be fine. I've never been on a space ship before."  
  
So they began to walk. He took her on a tour of all the major sections of the ship, including the bridge. He taught her some basic commands and how to read the LCD screens. She was a fast learner, able to almost always understand what he was telling her. While they roamed the corridors they made small talk, cracked some jokes, and talked about their families. Eve did most of the talking on that part.   
  
She was born and raised in New York City and was living alone in an apartment complex in the Bronx. Her dad was killed as an innocent bystander in a drive by shooting before she was born, and her mother left when she was eight. She had managed to pay for the rent by selling drugs and her body. She didn't talk much about that though, because it obviously pained her to do so. Mostly she commented no how much life sucked for her, and how she had been thinking of killing herself for the past two years.  
  
Eve had handled this entire situation quite well compared to most people. For some reason, she simply wasn't phased by this drastic change in her life. Spaceships, flying men, big green aliens, none of them had really shocked her. It was if somehow, she had always known stuff like this existed, she had just never been exposed to it. She often fantasised about a world like this, and now, she was a part of it.   
  
Jake didn't say much, he mostly listened as this girl poured his heart out to her. He didn't have any answers for her, or much advice for that matter. He always thought he had had it rough, which he did, but she had just as bad. Those thugs that he had saved her from were gang members that harassed almost everyone in her neighborhood. Apparently, she had sold some bad drugs and they were coming to even the score. Eve noticed his quietness and decided to let him do the talking.  
  
"Sorry, I must have put a lot on you. Thanks for listening for so long. No one has ever really been nice to me before."  
  
"Aw, hey, it's nothing...I just wish there was more I could do to help you."  
  
"Are you kiddin me? You saved my life, took me flying, got me out of that hellhole I called a home, and now your taking me with you on this fantastic trip! You've done more for me in one day than anyone has done for me in my entire life. I owe you my life."  
  
"Naw, you don't owe me anything. Besides, Dende said this is what's best for you, coming with us, that is. He must see something special in you, otherwise you wouldn't be here."  
  
"Special? Not likely. Enough about me. How about you, you've hardly said anything about yourself. What about your family?"  
  
"I'd rather not..."  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing...something happened, a long time ago..."  
  
"Oh. I get it. So, what's in here?" Eve asked, gesturing to a large pair of doors.  
  
"That's the engine room. You wanna look around?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
He led her through the doors and they entered engineering. It was absolutely massive, far larger than the training chamber. Only a small fraction of the space was used for utilitarian purposes. The four massive reactors that propelled the ship took up most of the space. From here the ship's reactors were monitored and serviced. Currently, Lieutenant Commanders Transa and Vrakan, both Thrakans, were on duty. When Sabre entered the room they came to attention.  
  
"Major," the Lieutenant Commanders acknowledged.  
  
"At ease. I'm just giving Eve here a tour of engineering. How's everything running?"  
  
"We should have the engines calibrated for the next jump momentarily. We're just checking with astrometrics to verify the course plot. We'll start up the reactors as soon as we get the go-ahead."  
  
"Excellent. That'll give Eve here the pleasure of watching the reactors come on-line."  
  
"What do you use for fuel?" Eve asked.  
  
Vrakan answered her. "We use Amnian crystals. You see, these crystals contain within them enormous amounts of stored energy and we harness this energy to power our ship."  
  
"Let me guess, these things are rare?"  
  
Sabre responded to this question. "Actually, they are quite commonly found in the Tycho system. Unfortunately, that is the only place these crystals are found. The Amnae that brought us there left them on our planets. We aren't in danger of ever running out of these crystals, because they are semi-organic, meaning they can reproduce themselves."  
  
"You mean those rocks can have kids?"  
  
"Not exactly. It's asexual reproduction. They simply split in two."  
  
"Weird."  
  
Sabre smiled and led her deeper into the engine room. They passed by numerous control panels and computer systems. He took her to where the Amnian crystals were stored. Normally, this part of engineering was sealed why the reactors were on-line, but since they were deactivated it was perfectly safe.   
  
"You want to see the crystals? They're quite beautiful."  
  
"Sure. What do they look like?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
He walked over to the crystal storage chamber and punched in a series of numbers on a keypad. The chamber casing opened, revealing the crystals within. When Eve saw them she was mesmerized. They were far more beautiful than anything she had seen on earth. They were relatively small, no bigger than baseballs, but were shaped in radical polyhedron designs. The crystals emanated light from themselves, a testimite to the subatomic reactions occurring within them. They were similar to diamonds, but had blue, red, and green tints to them.   
  
"Can...can I touch them?"  
  
"Yeah, it's perfectly safe. As long as the engines are off. If they weren't we'd both be reduced to atoms."  
  
Eve extended her hand tentatively and place a finger on one of the crystals.   
  
"It's warm."  
  
"Yep. When they aren't in use they maintain a constant temperature of 95 degrees."  
  
Eve then placed her entire hand over the crystal and closed her eyes. As she did so, Sabre felt something strange. Something was happening.   
  
When Eve placed her hand on the crystal a wave of pleasure spread throughout her body. She immediately relaxed and embraced the feeling. It felt like something within her was awakening, coming to life for the first time. It wasn't a dark feeling, in fact it was quite the opposite. Her mind was racing, her consciousness no longer in the engineering room. She was far, far away, on a world she had never known.  
  
Now Sabre could feel a major change within the girl. He had no clue as to what it could possibly be, other than the fact it was related to the crystals. But nothing like this had ever happened to anyone before. They had been used for hundreds by the Coalition and nothing like this had been recorded. Sabre could detect another energy source within her, merging with her original energy. Something was going down.   
  
Eve's mind was being filled with information and history of a culture utterly foreign to her. The dormant parts of her brain were being awakened and put to use by the new energy inside of her body. She felt as if another person was inside of her, inhabiting her body like a roommate she never knew she had. But her body started losing control.   
  
When she started seizing Sabre knew something like this was going to happen. She took her hands off the crystals but her body continued convulsing anyway. Sabre grabbed her and called for Transa and Vrakan.   
  
"What's going on?" Vrakan asked.  
  
"I don't know, she just touched the crystals and started seizing."  
  
"What the hell is going on? I can feel two energy signatures within her!" Transa cried.  
  
"Yeah, I know, the second one appeared when she touched the crystals. Her body is obviously taken objection to it."   
  
"Let's get her to the infirmary." Vrakan said.  
  
"Alright, I'll transmit there. You two stay here, we have to bring the engines back on-line, we have a schedule to keep."  
  
"Right." the Thrakans agreed.  
  
Sabre focused on the location of the infirmary and brought he and Eve there in an instant. The ship's doctor, Renara, a Danti, was on duty.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" the surprised Danti exclaimed.  
  
"She's seizing. Work your magic, doc?" Sabre placed Eve on one of the beds and let Renara take over.  
  
"How did this happen?" He asked, trying to hold the girl down.  
  
"I got her," Sabre said as he pinnned the convulsing girl. "She just touched the reactor crystals and this started happening."  
  
The doctor began to hook her up to a med scanner and run a brain scan. It was obviously gettign worse when her eyes rolled back into her head. She started to gag on her own saliva, forcing them to turn her on her side. "Well whatever it is, it's 'cause of the crystals, bu-" Renara paused in mid speech, "Holy shit, there are two energy signatures in her!"  
  
"Yeah, it popped up when she touched the crystals."  
  
"Well, now I know what's causing the seizures. I've read about this before, in some classified medical journals," the Danti began, continuing to work on the girl, "A few years back there were some experiments being done in high-level military projects. Those boys are always up to something. Anyway, they were trying to transfer multiple organic consciousnesses into one body. The problem was, the brain would only accept the consciousness of itself, it rejected the others."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Well, first it was seizures like this, then-" Eve suddenly stopped shaking.  
  
"What?"  
  
"This. Damit all to hell..." Renara sighed as her vitals flatlined.  
  
"Doc..."  
  
"I know." Renara started a battery of injections designed to get her heart beating again. "The hosts bodies shut down on them. Apparently, two essences can't share the same body..."  
  
"Well what the hell is inside of her?"  
  
"How am I supposed to know? You brought her here. Are you sure she's human?"  
  
"Well, I brought her from the earth..."  
  
"Fuck!" the doctor said, agitated. "It's not working, her heart has stopped completely. Her brain shut down too. I could hook her up to a machine, but she'd just be a vegetable. What do you want to do?"  
  
"What if I-"  
  
"Used your powers? You can't heal the dead, Sabre."  
  
"Damn...this girl was supposed to be special or something..." This definiately was not good. He brought this girl with him, and now she's dead. This all made no sense, but then again, the circumstances as of late hadn't made much sense either.  
  
"Leave her."  
  
"Right. Sorry about the girl."  
  
"Yeah, she was just a kid. It's a damn shame." Sabre took a good look at the dead girl, not sure what to think. She was on her side, not moving, a puddle of drool driping out of her mouth. Her eyes were still rolled back into her head. He had seen plenty of dead bodies before, plenty of dead friends...but it didn't feel like that. It was like something special had been lost before it even came to be.  
  
"I guess I'll run the autopsy, maybe I can find something out about what caused this second energy signature to show up."   
  
"Could you wait until tomorrow to run the autopsy? I just want to make sure of someting before you do."  
  
"Sure. I guess it wouldn't hurt any. She's not getting any deader."  
  
"Thanks. But damn, now I have to tell the others. This is just great. What are they going to think? I've already lost one of them and we haven't even started training yet."  
  
"These things happen, you know."  
  
"I know, but why do they have to happen to me?" Renara didn't have an answer for that but also didn't want to get involved with the human's self-pity.   
  
"Well, go do what you have to, I'll keep her on ice 'till tomorrow."  
  
"Alright," Sabre sighed as he walked out of the infirmary. He still couldn't shake the feeling though, that something wasn't right. Eve wasn't supposed to be dead. There was something just plain off about the entire situation, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. It was slighly unsettling to loose a man before the battle was even faught. He would have taken it as a bad omen if he had believed in such things.   
  
He decided to wait unitll tomorrow morning to tell the group of Eve's death. In the meanitme, he went to his quarters and poured himself a drink of Ziratov-something-or-other. It burned on the way down, and he couldn't keep it in his mouth for more than a second without feeling the urge to vomit, but it did it's job. So he sat there, reflecting on the recent events in a half-drunk pensive stupor.   
  
"So this is what its come down to. Those eight, me, and Ree are all that will stand between the Coalition and oblivion. Heh, heh. Me, Ree, that rhymes. Heh heh. Damn, I wish she was here...she always makes me feel good. God she's so hot...I...I think I love her." He thought to himself.  
  
"But you do love her." It was that damn voice in his head that popped into his thoughts whenever he got like this.  
  
"Shut up. You know what I mean."  
  
"No, that's just it. You've always loved her, and she's always loved you. Even when you were kids, you knew it. But you're both so afraid of admitting it to each other you pretend it's nothing more than a sibiling's love."  
  
"What? You don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Sure I do. I'm your better half, you're just too cowardly to admit that you love her. You want her, bad, and it just kills you. I don't know why you're so afraid though, she's got it pretty bad for you, too."  
  
"But...how am I supposed to say this stuff, how can I-"  
  
"That's all part of the game, Jake."  
  
"I don't even know when I'm going to see her again, though. She went back in time to set things straight with that kid's world, and isn't due back to base for another week."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about it. She'll pop up sooner than you think."  
  
"How can you know that? Y-" His conversation withhimself was cut off when the alarm sounded. The claxon, normally a mere annoyance, was piercing his head like a knife, amplified by his half-drunken stupor.   
  
"Goddamnit, if it isn't one thing it's another," he muttered to himself. He hurried to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face then blurred transmitted to the bridge.  
  
"Situation report," he ordered. Lieutennant Commander Rafa, the on-duty deck officer, responded.  
  
"We're not sure, sir. The boards started lighting up around engineering, somebody is down there that shouldn't be."  
  
"Do we know who it is?"  
  
"Yes, sir, it appears to be one of the passengers...Vegeta."  
  
"What the hell is he up to?"  
  
"It looks like he's...he's powered up for some reason, and he shorted out some conduits. He's fried the primary and terchiary power regulators, we can't start up the reactors unless we get replacements."  
  
"Stupid-ass-arrogant-son-of-a-bitch!" Sabre cursed. "Transa, come in!" he ordered, slamming his fist on the comm switch.  
  
"Uh, yeah Major."  
  
"Can you handle him?"  
  
"Not quite..."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Sabre transmitted to the engine room to see various chunks of important systems lying about. There were what looked to be power-up singes near the starboard reactor casing. Transa was laying on the floor, blood running from his nose, and was holding his right arm. Vegeta was hovering above him, raging mad and fully powered.  
  
"You will pay for what you have done to my people!"  
  
"Vegeta, what the hell are you doing?! Sabre screamed at the enraged Super Saiyan.   
  
"Stay out of this! This...thing killed my people, you will pay for what you did, Frieza!"  
  
Frieza...Sabre recognized the name. He was some space tyrant that was going about and destroying the natural inhabitants of worlds and selling them for profit. Yes, they were going to send someone to fix that little problem. But Goku solved the problem, and Trunks finished the job. Frieza died almost three years ago, Vegeta must have gone crazy.  
  
Sabre was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt Vegeta's power surge. He looked up to see the Saiyan's golden ki flaring about him violenlty, a tempest of rage and raw power. He extended his arms out from his body, palms outward. His breathing was rapidly increasing, as was his power level. He then brought his hands together in front of him, wrists rotated at 90 degree angles, fingers curved. Vegeta was about to do something monumentally stupid.  
  
Sabre didn't even bother shouting at him again. He transformed in a brilliant white flash and blurred in front of Vegeta. Before the raging Saiyan had time to react, Sabre delivered a punch square into Vegeta's face, knocking him through four reinforced bulkheads. Lucky for him his back was to the interior of the ship.   
  
As soon as his momentum stopped, Vegeta's golden aura disappeared. He was knocked clean out and probably had a concussion. Sabre turned his attention to the wounded Transa and healed him in a brilliant flash of yellow. He dropped back to the ground and questioned him.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?"  
  
"Sir, I have no idea. He stumbled in here a few minutes ago. I told him this was engineering and he had to get out because we were about to start up the reactors."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"He mumbled something about being a Saiyan prince but turned to walk out anyway. Then something happened, I don't know what. He just turned back around and kept saying "but you're dead!" I just looked at him and turned back to my controls. Then he shot in front of the reactor casing and went all out. Does this have anything to do with the crystals? I mean, the girl touched them, and now this?"  
  
"No, this has to be something else..." Despite the dull throbbing in his head, something managed to click. He knew Vegeta had rage problems, but only when provoked. And why would he talk about that Frieza guy, unless he saw him? And that meant...  
  
They had been compromised.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	16. Cooldown

16  
11.2.43  
GCS Dante, Sol System  
2109 Hours   
  
"Aw, shit, one of them is on board!" Sabre cried. Neither Transa nor Vrakan had to ask what one of "them" was. Nowadays that term was used to refer soley to Necrons.  
  
Vrakan cursed loudly in Danti. Transa did the same.  
  
Sabre moved to a comm panel as fast as he could.  
  
"Bridge, this is Sabre, we have been compromised, repeat, we have been compromised! Start the lockdown, now! Bring the scanners on-line."  
  
"Aye, sir!" When the second, louder, and much more ominous claxon sounded, the entire crew knew what it meant. The crew had thirty seconds to get to their designated post before every single hatch on the ship locked. They only unlock if the alarm was stopped, after entering the proper authorization codes, which only Sabre knew. The scanners were specially designed to detect a Necron presence. They were not kept on-line all the time becuase they drew an enormous amount of energy, almost equivalent to the entire ship output.  
  
"Sir, it'll take about five minutes to bring 'em on-line," was the response from the bridge.  
  
"We don't have time for that... damn, where could it be?" Unfortunately, his previous moment of clarity was quickly overshadowed by the throbbing in his head. These things just kept popping up out of nowhere, it was really becoming worrisome. He racked his brain for anything that might have helped. He was still cursing himself when a cry over the intercom interrupted him.  
  
"Shit! To anyone who can hear me, the goddamn thing's in the infirmary, say again it's--" The transmission was abruptly cut off.  
  
Sabre transmitted himself to the infirmary just in time to see Renara impaled upon the arm of the Necron. When it saw Sabre it retracted its arm and cloaked itself. Sabre switched optic modes and was able to see it move over to Eve's body, still in its resting place on the infirmary bed. When the Necron noticed Sabre's eyes follow it, it knew it was time to become a trickster.   
  
Sabre powered up, his white ki flaring to life, when all of a sudden there were a dozen of the damn things. To play it safe, he went for the one closest to Eve's body. When his fist connected with the air, he knew this was going to be a difficult fight. The creatures were dancing around the room now, almost mocking him, when he got an unexpected helping hand.  
  
When Goku felt Sabre power up, he knew something was really wrong. He just thought the claxons meant dinner or something. He was alsp curious as to why Vegeta powered up to begin with, but when it dropped again he thought nothing of it. After all, it was Vegeta. Now, this was Sabre's second time powering up, and he was sure that he was fighting something. He focused on his energy and transmitted himself.   
  
Goku appeared in the infirmary to see Sabre wildly swinging in the air. He was about to ask what was going on when he saw a funny-looking alien appear out of nowhere above one of the infirmary beds. It was very similar to one of the things he saw in the briefing. It did not notice the Saiyan and went about its task, oblivious to the curious onlooker. When it raised its hand to crush the life out of the seemingly dead creature on the infirmary bed, Goku knew what to do. He transformed into a Super Saiyan in a brilliant flash of gold and nailed the Necron in the side of the head with the full force of his punch .   
  
When all the creatures disappeared, Sabre was thankful. He looked about to see Goku next to Eve's bed, with the Necron knocked into the bulkhead. Goku looked back at him as if to say, "what the fuck?"  
  
"I got this," Sabre told Goku as he grabbed the stunned alien. He transmitted himself and the creature to an empty waste disposal hangar. He dropped his alien cargo and slammed the emergency decompression button. He then transmitted back to the infirmary and powered down. When Goku saw him do this, he did the same.  
  
"What's going on?" Goku asked.  
  
"Well, you just hit your first Necron."  
  
"You mean that was one of them?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But what was it doing on the ship?"  
  
"I don't know, I guess it must have hidden itself here. I guess that other one I killed back on earth had a friend."  
  
"Are there any more?"  
  
"We'll know as soon as the scanners come on-line." Suddenly there was the sound of a dull explosion and the ship rocked a little.  
  
"What was that?" Goku wondered.  
  
"The reason why we can never keep Necrons on a ship. They self-destruct if they are damaged or captured. Or sucked into space."  
  
"Oh. Uh, is that that Eve girl on the bed over there?  
  
Sabre felt his stomach turn. He didn't want to have to do this.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Is she sick?"  
  
"She's dead."  
  
"What? How'd that happen? Did that thing get her?"  
  
"No, it was strange...I'm still not sure what happened. Renara and I-" Sabre stopped in midspeech when he remembered the doctor. "Shit, doc!" he cried, turning to the corner in which he was laying in, filled with blood. He had completely forgotten about Renara. This was getting bad.  
  
Sabre frantically reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the few remaining pills. He slipped it into the doctor's bloody mouth and managed to get him to swallow it. The gaping hole in his chest healed at an incredible pace, and in a few moments the doctor was as good as new.   
  
"Sorry doc, I forgot about you..."  
  
"Aw, hey, don't worry about it. I'm alive. And you have some of the X-233 pills. I thought we were damn near out of them after the Necrons hit the plant on Jwela.  
  
"Well, I managed to 'procure' some from a friend of mine. Besides, these things are too damn useful to not have." Sabre slurred the last few words of his sentence, something the doctor picked up on."   
  
"You, Major, need to get some sleep. And stop drinking."   
  
"Yeah, you're right. Hey, Goku, tell the others what happened, but leave Eve out of it. I'll tell them tomorrow."  
  
"Alright. Is there anything I can do to help?"  
  
"No. When the scanners come on-line, I'll be able to handle anything that pops up. You just go back to your friends."   
  
"Okay..." Goku put two fingers to his head and disappeared to another part of the ship.   
  
"Shit, doc, I'm really sorry."  
  
"Nah, don't worry about it. The hole is gone, although I must admit I was disappointed that there was no white light. Isn't there supposed to be a white light?" Renara asked sarcastically.  
  
"Beats me. I've never been dead." Although he'd come close a few times.  
  
"Major," the call came through the intercom, "the scanners will be on-line in thirty seconds."  
  
"Great. Okay doc, see ya later. I've got to get the bridge. Oh, and I'll be bringing by one of the passengers, Vegeta. I had to put him out of commission." With that, Sabre transmitted himself to the bridge. The countdown was almost complete.  
  
"Major, we'll know how many of them are around in a second," Commander Jakar, the current deck officer, informed him.  
  
"Right."  
  
The entire bridge waited tensely for the scanners to finish charging. When they were finished they would emit a series of high and low frequency waves that scanned all the space in and around the ship in all possible ways. It used gamma, x, radio, uv, and infrared waves, as well as numerous other methods of scanning. There was no hiding from these things.   
  
As the charge finished, the Commander turned to Sabre. Sabre nodded his head and Jakar initiated the scan. A strange feeling passed over all of the people in the ship as various waves passed through their bodies. The scan lasted for only ten seconds; any longer and it would endanger their health.   
  
When the results flashed on the view screen he was relieved. 0 contamination. This meant that only two of the things had followed him. He then strolled over to the emergency override console and punched in a number/letter combination. The claxons on the ship stopped blaring.   
  
"This isn't good." Sabre sighed.  
  
"What is it, sir?"  
  
"Well, we had one of those mind-warping necrons on board. It sent Vegeta into a frenzy and he managed to blow out some vital reactor components. We can't get into warp unless we get a totally new system. Send out a distress signal, it's all we can do."  
  
"Aye, sir. Is there anything else?"  
  
"Yeah, send whoever you can down to engineering to assist Transa and Vrakan with any repairs they can make. Hopefully, we'll be able to at least use our conventional drvies, but I'm not sure how much damage Vegeta caused. Speaking of which, I have to take him to the infirmary. I knocked him through a few bulkheads..."  
  
"Way to go, sir. That guy is an asshole."  
  
"Yeah, but he's an asshole that may help us save the universe."  
  
The Commander shrugged at this and began to get to his business. Sabre transmitted down to engineering to grab Vegeta and check out how bad the damage really was. When he appeared Vrakan and Transa looked depressed.  
  
"What's the matter, guys?"  
  
Transa gave him the situation. "This is going to be an obscene amount of work. That damn Saiyan fried more systems than we first thought. A lot of his energy seeped into the circuitry and overloaded it. This is why you're no supposed to power up down here. As you already know we'll need replacement parts for the reactor matrix regulators, those things are fucking melted, and spares for the containment generators. This sucks."  
  
"Well, if it helps at all, you'll be getting some assistance with the repairs. We have put out a distress signal so hopefully the Coalition will get the message and send us some help."  
  
"Hopefully." Transa muttered.  
  
"Well, that's all for now, I have to take our illustrious guest to the infirmary. I don't feel like powering up again."  
  
"Do what you feel like, sir. C'mon Vrakan, let's get to work."  
  
"Goddamned second-rate two-bit ancient pice-of-shit cargo..." Vrakan mumbled as he turned to follow Transa. Sabre walked through the series of holes in the bulkheads and found Vegeta, still unconscious, implanted in the wall. He peeled him out and transmitted to the infirmary.  
  
Renara was cleaning up the mess that their "visitor" had made, rearranging the dishoveled room. When Sabre appeared he took the small Saiyan from his arms and placed him on one of the infirmary beds. The doctor hooked him up to a few machines designed to heal his broken bones and nurse him back to health.  
  
"Well, doc, I'm going to hit the sack. It's been too long of a day. Things just haven't been going according to plan. Especially with Eve. God, this is so much harder than it should be..."  
  
"Hey, you and I both know that nothing ever goes right with missions like these. People die, machines break, but we'll get through it, we always do."  
  
"Whatever. Look, I'm going to bed. I feel like crap. I'll be by tomorrow, I'm going to have a nasty hangover."  
  
Renara just shook his head as Sabre disappeared.   
  
When he got to his room, he walked over to his bed, pulled off the sheets, and slipped into bed. He shut down all of the thoughts racing in his head about the recent events and just focused on her. God, he really did love her. He drifted to sleep thinking of Resa. He wondered when he would see her again, which, unkown to him, would be sooner than he thought.   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	17. The Battle at the Antaris Jump Node

17  
11.2.43  
Antais Jump Node, Antaris System  
2300 Hours  
  
"Fire Control, status report!" he cried.  
  
"Sir, Fire Control is at 33%, we've lost targeting on turrets C through L!"  
  
"Can we still fire?"  
  
"Yes, sir, but we've lost most of our targeting dat-"  
  
"Well, goddamnit, point and shoot!"  
  
"Aye, sir!"  
  
"If this wasn't a suicide mission," Captain Grena Tersra thought to himself comically, "things would be going badly."  
  
Currently, Captain Tersra and his ship, the GCS Avalon, a Vega-class battleship, were engaged in a massive fleet action just outside the Antaris jump node. Tersra, a battle-hardened, fifty-eight year old Saiyan, was the ship's commander. The Avalon belonged to 3rd fleet, who along with the 9th and 11th fleets, were making a final stand at the jump node. The fleets were all-Saiyan units, and all were volunteers. All three battle groups chose the assignment as soon as it was announced. In totality, they had three carriers, each housing three fighter and two bomber wings, nine battleships, eighteen cruisers, and a large amount of assorted support craft, ranging from fuel and ammo ships to gunships and corvettes.  
  
These fleets were currently arrayed against the entire Necron force in the sector. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outmanned by a ratio of god-knows-what, this suicide mission's purpose was to buy the forces on Gargantua enough time to dig in and prepare for the invasion. Already, the fleets had lost a third of their operational capabilities and were being pushed closer and closer to the node, which was the second-to-last before Gargantua. This relatively small number of ships had managed to extract a heavy toll on the invaders, but being without fear or emotion, they pushed on, driving the valiant defenders to the wall.  
  
The Avalon was one of the few remaining battleships. Her escorts had managed to keep the fighters off her back long enough to allow her to flank a lead element of the enemy fleet. Her beam cannons carved a swath of destruction through the Necron ranks, virtually destroying an entire carrier group whose fighter protection was preoccupied with other targets. Now the carrier's escorts turned their attention to the Avalon.  
  
"Engineering, status report!" the captain ordered.  
  
"Sorry sir, but we've lost both our starboard reactors. The containment chambers are completely destoryed and I've had to erect force fields to stop the decompression down there.   
"Well, we can still move with three engines. Helm, switch our heading to 8324. Fire control, bring all guns to bear on that damn carrier, we'll finish it off."  
  
"Aye sir," was the chorus from the respective lieutenants. Fortunately, the bridge crew remained unharmed. Unlike in most science fiction novels, the bridge was located in the interior of the ship, surrouned by its massive superstructure. It would be completely insane to place a bridge on the top of a ship. It wouldn't last ten minutes in a firefight like this.  
  
As the Avalon beared down on the Necron carrier, the carrier's cruiser escorts were whittling away at the Avalons gunships and corvettes. A bomber wing was obviously inbound. The battleship's beam turrets charged and drilled their fantastic blue and green beams into the hull of the carrier. Her mammoth turrets and numerous torpedo tubes added their fire to the mix, hurling their anti-matter charges at the ship. As they impacted the carriers hull, their cataclysmic charges destroyed any matter they came into contact with, blowing huge holes in the ships superstructure, causing it to visibly shudder. The ensuing explosive decompressions sealed the ship's fate.   
  
When the beam cannons drained their charges, it could be seen that they had done their job well. The carrier was in two pieces, its huge frame separated into jagged halves. Secondary explosions moved through both halves, illuminating them like flickering light bulbs. The ship began its final death throes as its reactors reached critical instability, ripping the ship apart from the inside out. The shockwave obliterated both parts of the ship and rocked the vessels surrounding it. A few unfortunate support craft were ripped apart in the wave.  
  
A collective cheer rang throughout the Avalon. This was the sixth carrier the fleets had managed to nullify, along with countless fightercraft and troop transports, which were their main objectives. Unfortunately, this meant they had to bypass the Necron support elements, a fact which was coming back to haunt them.  
  
"Uh, sir, we have a problem," was the ominous statement from the sensors officer.   
  
"Let me guess, we have a few Necron big boys breathing down our necks," was Captain Tersra's sarcastic response.  
  
"Uh, yeah sir. Three Battleships and four cruisers have changed heading and are bearing down on us. Eight minutes to intercept."  
  
"Apparently we aren't liked much around these parts." The captain maintained a sense of humor even though the end was near. They would last three, maybe four minutes against those ships. Then, then he'd find out was happens to you when you die. Thankfully, he would be leaving no family behind. They had all been killed when the Necrons hit his homeworld.   
  
The Captain laid back in his chair and gave various orders, making sure that they would go down fighting. With five minutes to intercept, he thought now would be best to give his speech. Yes, it was dramatic, and yes, it was done all the time in the movies, but what the hell, at least it would sound good. Besides, it was the Captain's job to fill his crew with pride before the end. He pressed the general comm. command on his console and cleared his throat.   
  
"Attention crew of the GCS Avalon, this is your Captain speaking." The bridge crew came to attention. "As you are well aware, within the next ten minutes we will all be dead. We have seven Necron capital ships bearing down on us, so any hope of survival is a joke. But you knew this was a suicide mission when you signed on. Remember, we are all Saiyans. This is a glorious day for us. We are warriors, it is our dream to die on the field of battle, so here we are. It has been an honor serving with you. All I we can hope now is that our sacrifice is not in vain. Our Coalition brethren are preparing themselves for the onslaught we are facing right now, we were supposed to slow them down, and I guess we have succeeded. So, let not a trace of fear enter your soul. It is a good day to die, and we have extracted a severe toll on these goddamned, soulless, Necron bastards. I will see you all on the other side. This is Captain Grena Tersra, GCS Avalon, signing off."  
  
The bridge erupted in applause, everyone feeling the emotion the Captain conveyed. But the moment was short-lived as the sensors officer spoke up.  
  
"Sir, one minute to intercept."  
  
Tersra focused on the view screen, the tactical overlay displaying the Necron ships closing. He was amused by the fact he was not afraid, in fact, he was excited. All he could think about was how many of them he could kill before they went down.  
  
"Fire control, pick your targets and make your shots count, we won't have long. Oh, and it's time to arm the charges. The sons of bitches are in for a nasty surprise."  
  
"Aye, sir, we'll show them you don't fuck with the Coalition. Charges armed."  
  
All of the Coalition ships in the sector had been rigged with Meta-Hyperion bombs. The weapons were so powerful that they could rip holes in space-time if enough of them were detonated at once. By the time the battle was over, the system would be an unstable pocket of warped space.  
  
The Necrons would push on though, oblivious to the prohibitive losses they would take. After all, their sole purpose was to wipe out the Coalition, and nothing more. The Necron ships bore down on the Avalon, their own beam weapons and turrets opening fire. Simultaneously, a bomber wing began their attack run, launching their deadly ordinance at the battleship. Fortunately, the Avalon's flak turrets were still functional, as were the corvettes and gunships assigned to protect her. The bomber wing was nullified without incident.  
  
Now, with their roles being fulfilled to their fullest extent, the gunships Bretana, Apollo, and the corvettes Highland, Wervat, and Iceblade did all they could. When the order was given for ramming speed, their crews let out a roar of defiance and pride. The small ships accelerated and drove down the throats of the Necron ships, detonating their own high-yield ordinance into the vessels. Since they were too small to carry the Meta-Hyperion bombs, they were rigged with powerful hydrogen warheads.  
  
Only two cruisers were destroyed in the suicide runs, but it was enough to scatter the ships far enough apart for the Avalon to maximize her own self-detonation. With all that remained of her engine power, she manuvered into the middle of the sphere formation of the Necron vessels. She was coming apart at the seams under the withering Necron fire, her hull shattered and weapons off-line, but she did all that she could.   
  
The Captain closed his eyes as he gave the order to detonate, a large grin on his face. "A five to one kill ratio. Not bad old man, not bad at all," he thought to himself.   
  
The Avalon and surrounding Necron ships were completely and utterly destroyed in the ensuing blast as the fabric of space itself was torn apart. However, all around the battle raged on. The Coalition defenders fought tooth-and-nail, making the Necrons pay for every kilometer of space they gained. Unfortunately, it was a price they could afford to pay. Unknown to the Necrons, a cloaked probe was recording the entire battle, keeping a silent witness to the fantastic scene before it.  
  
But being a machine, it could not appreciate the twisted beauty that war brought with it. Various colored beams crisscrossed the battlefield carving huge sections out of the warships. Explosions of all sizes flashed and glittered amongst the background of a purple-green nebula. Tiny fightercraft wove in and out of the scene, trying their best to dodge both fire from other fighters and the well-defended capital ships. Space was visibly being distorted from the shockwaves of the exploding ships, and more obviously, by the Meta-Hyperion bombs. What would have been strange to an organic observer, but nothing more than a factual reality for the probe, was the almost total lack of sound. Since space was a vacuum, it did not conduct sound, which requires molecules to vibrate. All of the action was like a silent film, the only sound was heard by the crews of the Coalition ships.   
  
The probe, in all its mindless spectating, was placed there to witness the effectiveness of the MH bombs, as well as to watch the progress of the Necron advance. It relayed the information through subspace to Coalition HQ in the Tycho system. It had its own HUD, displaying Coalition ships as green blips and the Necron ships as red blips. Currently, there were five hundred red blips to seventy-six green ones on the short-range scanners. On the long-range scanners, it displayed eleven thousand red blips.   
  
As the battle drew to a close, the remnants of 3rd, 9th and 11th fleets coordinated what was left of their forces into a final counterstrike. The only remaining carrier, the GCS Vengance, was surrounded by her comrades. They drove to the center of the Necron advance fleet, the escorts drawing as much fire as they could. When they could advance no further, they committed mass suicide, taking with them the majority of the Necron fleet. In the span of eight seconds, forty-two million beings were annihilated.  
  
Amidst all the carnage, something unexpected happened. With the release of so much energy, the entire system became unstable. Gravity wells and subspace anomalies, many of which had never existed before, distorted and warped most of the space around the Antaris jump node. It became totally unnavigable, even by the Necrons. Once the information reached Coalition HQ, they would be delighted with the news. While the Necron advanced had not been stopped, it had been drastically slowed. With the inaccessibility of the node, it would take the Necrons an additional six months to reach Gargantua.  
  
The sacrifice of the Saiyan fleets had bought the Coalition the most valuable commodity in the universe: time. It would give the defenders on Gargantua ample time to reinforce and prepare the most stalwart defense ever known. For the first time in a long while, they had a fighting chance.  
  
  
  
  



	18. Reflections, part one

Well, here's chapter 18. This mainly deals with the character's thoughts as to their current predicament. (Everyone other than Sabre) Don't worry, I'll have more sweet action soon, I promise ^_^   
  
Enjoy the chapter.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
18   
11.2.43  
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System  
2345 Hours  
  
After the commotion had been explained to the rest of the Z-team by a crewmember, the group retired to their quarters. It had been a long day, filled with surprises they could not have imagined had they not borne witness to them themselves. The group also had a collective sense of uneasiness, which years of experience had told them that something was indeed amiss. Eve, who was supposed to bunk with Trunks and Bulma, was no where to be found. They had been told that she was "occupied" and would return to them as soon as she was finished. Also, Goku had explained to them the series of alarms that had been set off by the Necron stowaway. Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien were currently discussing their situation in their quarters, laying in their beds in total darkness. No one had been able to figure out how to turn on the lights.  
  
"You guys, are you sure we can handle this? I mean, we weren't even close to being a match for Cell, and now we're going off to fight some aliens who are whole lot stronger than him. I have a bad feeling about this..." Krillin said, the worry in his voice evident.  
  
Yamcha responded, equally doubtful, "I know what you mean. We can't even keep up with Goku or Vegeta, or even Piccolo. How are we supposed to get that strong? It doesn't seem possible."  
  
Tien spoke up, "But why did that guy take us with him? Why are we here now if he doesn't think we can hack it? He said he was a full-blooded human, just like us, which means we can get as strong as them. I'm sure we can."  
  
"How do we know he isn't lying? He could be some type of radical alien that just looks human." Krillin argued.  
  
Yamcha seconded Krillin's opinion, "Yeah, why did we even come here to begin with?"  
  
"Because Goku agreed to," was Tien's terse reply.  
  
Yamcha sighed. "That's just it, we're always doing what he wants to. Who elected him the leader? Now, don't get me wrong Goku's great, I mean, we've all known him since he was a little kid. But ever since then, he's always been stronger than us. Is that the only reason we follow him? We always fight with him, and what always happens? We get killed. I almost bought it back there with that android, and then, if it wasn't for Gohan, those god-awful little blue monsters would have killed us all, for sure." Yamcha said, referring to the Cell Jrs. Cell had sent upon them.  
  
"What are you saying?" Krillin asked, concerned about Yamcha's sudden change of opinion.  
  
"I'm just saying we should reconsider our options. How are we supposed to even train with those guys? If they go Super Saiyan, there is no way we would be able to keep up. Hell, we can hardly keep up when they're not Super Saiyans. I'm not sure if we should even be here."  
  
"Yamcha, what are you saying? Have you gone crazy? This is what we DO. We're warriors. We may not be as strong as the other guys, but we do the best we can. It's all we can do. Do you know why the others have gotten so strong? Because they never doubt themselves. Haven't you ever watched Goku and Vegeta train? They are so driven, so focused, that they push themselves to unbelievable levels of power. Us? We're just schoolboys in comparison. We don't put nearly as much effort into our training as they do. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because they're Saiyans and have this insane urge to fight all the time. Vegeta and Goku LOVE to fight. It's like a game to them. If we can push ourselves harder than we ever have before, I know we can get stronger."  
  
"Maybe...but I don't know. It seems like we have so much farther to go. We only have so much time before we get to wherever we're going. And speaking of that, what's up with this whole war thing? That scares the shit out of me. How are we supposed to concentrate on fighting while we're getting shot at? There's no way we can to both."  
  
Krillin added his two cents. "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, more than anything. We've never gotten into a situation like this. It's unreal. Think about it: we're on board a spaceship, heading for god-knows-where, all because this guy shows up and says he needs help. And not only that, but we're on our way to fight in a war, something none of us has been exposed to. We've never had to worry about getting shot before, but after what happened in that training room...they didn't even have a chance."  
  
Tien, the only one whose determination hadn't wavered, tried to reassure the other two. "Guys, I think the thing we have to be worried most about is our self-doubt. That's all we ever do, worry about our abilities. We let it blind us to the fact that we aren't that weak at all. We have to stop worrying. As soon as we start training tomorrow, my goal is to get as strong as the rest of them, I don't care what it takes. I'm tired of being a hindrance, tired of being saved. I want to help out, for real this time, and I'm gonna do it."  
  
The determination in Tien's voice was evident, and the other two were silent for a few moments. Krillin was struck by his resolve and decided that he too would push himself more than he was accustomed to. Yamcha, on the other hand, was not quite as gung-ho.  
  
"I'm with you Tien. I'm tired of being the weakest link too. It's about time we start pulling our weight around here," Krillin resolved.  
  
"But, how can you guys be so sure of yourselves. What if-"  
  
Tien cut Yamcha off. "Stop thinking "what if". If you keep thinking that way, all you'll do is keep on worrying. You have to stop being so doubtful. Look, me and Krillin will be there for you. We're a team remember? We may not be as strong as the others, yet, so for now, let's just watch out for each other."  
  
Yamcha was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Do you really think we can do this?"  
  
"Yes I do, Yamcha, yes I do."  
  
Krillin yawned loudly. "Alright guys, I think it's time we call it a night. If we're gonna become all big and bad, we're gonna need some rest. It's been a long day."  
  
"I hear you man." Tien rolled over in his bed. "Good night."  
  
"So guys, do you-"  
  
Krillin and Tien both cut him off in unison. "Yes!"  
  
"Okay, just making sure. Good night."   
  
None of the humans fell asleep for quite a while, each reflecting deeply on their current situation, and their resolve to increase their power. Each of them had their doubts, but none more so than Yamcha. For some reason he couldn't shake this ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen, and soon. The thing was, he always got these feelings just before something went wrong, like when Vegeta arrived on Earth and when the androids appeared. He also had the feeling just before Cell showed up. He had never said anything to anyone about it, he just thought of it as some really weird coincidences. But now, now he was absolutely sure that something was going to happen.  
  
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In the right-had adjoining room, Android 18 had been listening in to the humans' conversation with her enhanced hearing. She, however, had managed to turn the lights on. She was rather impressed by Tien's determination to become as strong as the others. She had been programmed with information on all of them, but as of late they had not been acting according to the profiles Dr. Gero had given her. Especially that small, bald human, named Krillin. He had spared her life by smashing that remote, and then he had taken care of her after she had been regurgitated by Cell. She knew this because although she was unconscious, her sensory input systems still recorded the events around her.  
  
But something was troubling her. She did not know why, but for some reason every time she looked at Krillin, she got a strange feeling in her stomach. Her body temperature would raise a few degrees, and she would lose her normally level composure. And from what she could tell, the human became the same way around her. What did this mean? She was afraid that she had some sort of attraction to him. But why? It made no sense. On the other hand, Dr. Gero had programmed she and 17 to be as human as possible. But why Krillin?   
  
All of a sudden she felt overwhelmed. She was still hurting over the loss of her brother, 17, and 16, who valiantly tried to protect her from that monster Cell. The only two entities in the world who could understand her, or even relate to her, were both dead. She was angry at Cell who had killed 16 and absorbed 17. She was angry with Gohan who killed Cell, thus sealing her brother's fate, and also angry with Krillin for giving her these strange feelings amidst all her grief. And she too, was unsure as to why she was on this ship heading for a far-off galaxy to fight a fight she had no reason to even know existed. She began to weep. She cried for the loss of her only friends, she cried because she was sorry for herself, and she cried because she was alone.   
  
She was greatly burdened with all of the events her short life had screwed her with, but decided that she would press on. Why? Because that is what 16 and 17 would have wanted her to do. Sitting here and feeling sorry for herself would accomplish nothing. She went over to the sink and washed the tears out of her eyes. If she was going to continue, she decided she had to get out of the clothes she was wearing. She rummaged through the closet until she found and acceptable outfit that fit her. It consisted of a pair of grey baggy pants, a blue vest, and a white T-shirt that cut off just above her navel, revealing a perfectly flat stomach.   
  
Checking herself out in the mirror, she decided that it would do for now, and went to her bed. She pressed a small button on the wall above her head, shutting off the lights. Now in total darkness, she became uneasy. It reminded her of when Dr. Gero had shut her an 17 down. She wasn't sure that she would ever wake up again. But then a picture of that cute, little bald human crawled into her mind, and she relaxed. There was just something about him, something that she liked. Making a resolve of her own, she decided that she would try and become closer to Krillin, the only one of them who had cared about her. She drifted off to a peaceful sleep, putting her doubts about her life to rest with the reassurance that she had something to live for.  
  
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At the end of the hall, Piccolo had no doubts in his mind. He was calm and stoic as usual, deep in a meditative trance. He was hovering above his bed, something he thought of as a silly comfort, and was currently preparing himself for the training tomorrow. They had been doing a lot of that lately, he noticed. First it was for the androids, then for Cell. The universe had been quite busy as of late, deciding to throw all these challenges at them in such close proximity.   
  
While Piccolo appeared completely silent, he was actually communicating with Kami and Nail, the two Nameks he had fused with. Now, it was not a conversation with words, it was more along the lines of a mental river, with their essences all mingling, each being able to understand the other. They proved to be valuable sources of information most times, but now, they were at a loss of ideas. Neither Nail, nor Kami had ever heard of this Galactic Coalition, nor this race of Necrons. Each of them was as surprised as the other at this turn of events.  
  
But, they had a goal. Piccolo, although he was stronger than the humans, was still far too weak to be considered a serious contender anymore. The Saiyans had all reached new levels of power, and Gohan...Gohan had exceed all expectations. The boy was the only person who he really loved, who he really cared for. Ever since Goku had died fighting Radditz, Piccolo felt he owed the young boy a debt of gratitude he could never express to his father. So, he trained him, trained him to be a warrior, something which Gohan was a natural at, but lacked the desire. He was not like his father at all. Perhaps this was due to the influence of Chi-Chi. That woman...  
  
That was the one thing that always held the boy back, his reluctance to fight. He would only do so effectively if his friends were in mortal danger, something which made for some very close calls in the past. After Gohan had finally learned to control his awesome power during the fight with Cell, he had become far more formidable, yet he still lacked the true warrior spirit. Goku, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't imbue that trait into his son. Not that there would be anything wrong with that in an ideal universe, but this was hardly anything but ideal. So for now, he knew the boy would fight. But he was still a boy.  
  
Piccolo felt it was a shame, though, that he could no longer train him effectively. Gohan had become so strong that his assistance would probably be more of a hindrance than anything else. It was up to Sabre to train him now, something he was not comfortable with at all. The fact that this supposed human had come out of nowhere to ask for their assistance was strange enough, but the fact he was so much stronger than them made it even more so. Why would an obviously superior fighter ask for assistance from a group of weaker ones? It simply was not logical. Perhaps he knew something they did not, something he had neglected to tell them...but that was pure speculation.  
  
So, for now, he would do as this Sabre said. Besides, he needed to become stronger. Not being an effective warrior was making him angry and bitter. He relished the days when Goku and he were equals, when they could both fight at full power, neither of them having a decisive advantage. But now, now he had become far too ineffective. The battle with Cell had proved it beyond a doubt. He wondered exactly how the human planned to train them, how they were supposed to become stronger.  
  
It was Kami's essence who came up with the logical answer.   
  
"So, Piccolo, you are blind to the obvious as ever," Kami's essence told him.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"What do Goku, Vegeta, and all the Saiyans have in common?"  
  
"I don't have time for this, old fool!"  
  
"They all have the ability to transform into Super Saiyans."  
  
"Yes, Kami, we all know that. Have you gone senile?"  
  
Kami ignored him. "And this Sabre who claims to be a human, he transforms as well, does he not?"  
  
"It appears so..."  
  
"So if Saiyans and humans can transform to vastly increase their power, why cannot Nameks?"  
  
Nail joined in. "Yes, I remember one time the elder Namek saying something once, about a legendary Namek who managed to reach an unbelievable level of power. He said it was not currently possible in our present forms, so that must have meant we can transform as well!"  
  
Piccolo was shocked that he had not thought of it himself. It was so obvious, so simple. When he was training in the Room of Spirit and Time, he felt he was missing something, something important. He had gotten stronger, but not nearly as much as he could have. That fact had bothered him for a little while, but he had dismissed it as simply feeling inferior to the Super Saiyans.   
  
With this realization, he had suddenly become much more pleased with himself. He was not destined to be a second-rate warrior for the rest of his life, he had the ability to ascend. So, beginning tomorrow, that would be his focus for as long as it would take. To become a "Super Namek" was his all-consuming goal, although he would have to think of a better name...  
  
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This is only part one of 'reflections'. Chap. 19 will be up as soon as I can write it, but I start work tomorrow, so don't expect TOO much. At least I'll make enough money this summer to pimp out my truck, get a new computer, get DSL (*drools uncontrolably), and save some money for *ack* college. And, if any of you are curious to my behavior in the DBZ forum, think nothing of it. I am merely having fun with those over-sensitive individuals. But, I will take a break from harassing them, on the advice of Paladone, and because I will simply lack the time for those frivolous posts.  
  
And Ares, did ya get my fic???   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	19. Reflections, part two

19  
11.2.43  
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System  
2345 Hours  
  
Chi-Chi gazed in fascination at the spectacular scene before her. There being no atmosphere to obscure her view, she could see more stars than she had ever before. Thousands upon thousands of twinkling lights were the background to two raging suns. The binary stars she focused her attention upon were like nothing she had ever seen. They were magnificent in all their raging beauty. While one part of her was focused on their beauty, another part was worrying about the entire mess her husband and his friends had managed to get her in. Not only that, but once again they had gotten Gohan involved.  
  
Despite her often and vocal objections, she realized that her husband and son's fighting were a necessary evil. After all, they had managed to save the world, what was it? Three, four times now? But the situation had changed. They were no longer fighting for the world or to save their friends. They were following a complete stranger to an unknown part of the galaxy to fight an enemy they had no quarrel with. They would be gone for six months, maybe more, and that was why she had come.  
  
She was not going to wait at home, literally worrying herself sick over her husband and son's condition. She had done enough of that for the rest of her life during the Namek trip. She would follow her husband and son and be a part of their lives. Besides, Gohan had to keep up with his studies, no matter what that rude man had to say. She felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Chi-Chi, you okay?" came her husband's soft voice.   
  
Chi-Chi let loose a flood of emotion. "Oh, Goku...this, this is all so...it makes me sad. I am so tired of having to see you and Gohan fight. Why can't we be happy? Why is there always so much struggle, so much death? I know this sounds selfish, but I don't want to lose you, or Gohan. I don't even want any of your stupid friends to die again. I-I-" her voice choked up as the tears began to flow.  
  
"Shh. It's okay, it's okay." Goku calmed his wife and took her in his arms. "I know you don't want anything to happen to us. I love you so much Chi-Chi, I love Gohan too. I wish things didn't always have to be this way. You know I love fighting, but this, I don't like this."  
  
"Then, then why are you doing it?" She managed to get out through her sobs.  
  
"Because it's the right thing to do. From what Sabre tells me, there are over 60 billion people still in danger. I can't just turn my back on them. I know, I don't know them, but they are just as deserving as the people of Earth. We have to do this, and when it's over, we'll get things back to normal."  
  
"But what about the next time? And the time after that? It's all been a series of battles, ever since you were a child. I'm scared I'll lose you for good."  
  
"You know I'll do my best not to let that happen. But even if you do lose me, it's not the end of the world. You'll still have Gohan. He's going to need you, especially now. When we were fighting with Cell, he, he snapped. When he saw us all getting hurt, he let something loose within him. Now he's afraid of his new power. I can train him how to use it, but you, you need to be there to train his soul."  
  
Chi-Chi was calmer now. She understood why her husband was doing this, but she still did not like it. However, there was something he needed to know, another reason why she came on this journey.  
  
"Goku, there, there's something I have to tell you."  
  
The tone in her voice worried him. "What is it Chi-Chi? Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, nothing's wrong. I'm...I'm..."  
  
"What?"   
  
"I'm pregnant."  
  
The blow she just delivered him was more powerful than anyone he had ever fought before. Talk about being blind sided.  
  
"What? You're...when?"  
  
"You remember that night..."  
  
"Oh, THAT night. Wow. Yeah, uh, heh heh. That was some night..."  
  
"Now I'm afraid that this child will grow up without a father. And that just wouldn't be right Goku, it just wouldn't be right."  
  
Goku didn't know what to say. He just looked into his wife's eyes for a long time. He saw what made him fall in love with her and it tore him apart on the inside. Finally he spoke.  
  
"I promise you, I will come out of this, and so will Gohan. When this is all over, we'll figure everything out."  
  
"Oh, Goku, I hope you're right." Chi-Chi hugged her husband even tighter, not ever wanting to let him go again. And they sat there in their embrace, set against a background of fantastic beauty.  
  
Gohan, who lay in the bed across the room, was supposed to be asleep. But as all children, he was awake to hear the important conversations his parents had. When he saw his mother break down like that, he truly appreciated the for the first time the effect his actions had on her. As with most children, Gohan never thought about how his behavior affected his mother. When he was trained by Piccolo, fought with Vegeta, went to Namek, and most recently with Cell, those events had taken a toll on her. And he never noticed it.  
  
The only consolation he had was the fact that he had fought for the greater good, and the fact that this time, his mother would be closer by. He hated to see his mother cry. It was the worst feeling in the world, worse than anything else. He hated having so much power but never being able to use it at the right times. And now, instead of simply being the humble, studious son his mother desired, he was following in the footsteps of his father, becoming a warrior. Living the life his mother tried to protect him against.  
  
When he finally drifted off to sleep, his dreams were permeated with a sense of guilt. None of them made any sense, but the feeling that he was letting his mother down was definitely present.   
  
While Gohan dreamt, Chi-Chi and Goku held each other while gazing out at the stars. Chi-Chi fell asleep in his arms, something she hadn't done in quite a while. Goku was definitely shaken up at the recent turn of events, mainly his wife being pregnant. He was forced to reconsider his straightforward approach to this problem. If anything should happen to him, what then? What would become of his family? Leaving not one, but two children behind, it was a very frustrating problem.  
  
In the end though, he came to the same conclusion. If it was necessary for him to sacrifice himself to save an entire civilization than so be it. Chi-Chi, Gohan, and his unborn son would survive, regardless of his status. So, once again, he would fight for the greater good, knowing that it was for the best. What troubled him most, though, was the strength of his opponents.  
  
Already, he could sense the true strength of Sabre. He had a fantastic amount of power, easily equal to all of them put together. Apparently, his transformation multiplied his strength many times over, something turning Super Saiyan did, but to a lesser extent. Gohan had reached a new level, so at least there was more training they could do. But how much until they hit the next limit? If they weren't strong enough to go toe-to-toe with those Necrons, then all their training would be useless.  
  
But Goku, ever the optimist, felt that they would have a chance. Training with this new guy would allow them to assimilate each other's techniques. They could learn a lot from eachother, seeing as how they were trained in different schools of fighting. Heck, they were trained in opposite ends of the galaxy. He would push himself as always, partly because he was called upon to help the weak, and partly because of his natural Saiyan blood. He loved a good fight.  
  
He looked down at his wife, who was currently sleeping in his arms. She was so soft, so beautiful; his heart melted all over again. He pulled her closer against his chest and could feel her breathing, her heart's beating. He never wanted to let her go again. He stood up, wife in arms, and carried her over to their bed. Although it was small compared to the one they shared at home, they didn't mind being so close to each other. Not in the least. After placing his wife on the bed he lay down next to her and drifted off to sleep, his last thought being, "I just want everything to turn out okay."  
  
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In the last room, Bulma was laying in bed while her baby was asleep next to her in the special crib she had brought along in one of her capsules. Trunks stood against the far wall, gazing out at the stars. He, however, was not really focused on them. His mind was awash in a sea of thoughts, ranging from his mother back home to the current predicament facing him. A half-dozen touchpads were scattered on a coffee table adjacent to him, containing information on their new foe.  
  
The only reason he hadn't made an objection to his coming was that Sabre had told him that his mother had been appraised of the situation, and that someone had been sent to make his time safe again. As with Goku, he had decided that the greater good was to go ahead and help out these people. He knew what would happen if they did not try and help, and he would never allow that to happen to anyone again. He had seen enough suffering and death than anyone ever should have to.  
  
Another of his dilemmas was what to think about android 18 coming with them. She was nothing like the one in his time, but just looking at her filled him with an almost irrepressible rage. Physically, she was identical to the one in his time, but, everything else about her was different. As far as he could tell, she was a pretty decent 'person'. But that face, those eyes...they were the same. If he was going to be able to work along side her, he would have some serious adjusting to do. It was strange how eerily similar this world could be, yet so different at the same time. Being in this time was like seeing the way things were supposed to be.   
  
Laughter, smiles, happiness, those things were utterly foreign in his world. It was painful for him to think about his world for any amount of extended time while in this one. Everything was so much better here, it wasn't fair that his time had to have such catastrophe, such fear. But it was no one's fault. Only Dr. Gero and his twisted creations were to blame. It was a shame that he would not be able to get his revenge. The only consolation he had was that his mother would be safe, and that he would be given the chance to stop this from being the fate of others.   
  
He also wondered why artificial creations brought with them so much evil. These cyborgs that had been able to defeat Sabre, they were just like the androids and Cell. Artificial creations designed for nothing more than destruction. If he had known that the Dante had an artificial intelligence of it's own, he'd have been much more disconcerted.  
  
But the times ahead looked bleak. It would be more training, more fighting, more dying. He wondered if he would make it out of this. From the briefing, it sounded as if they had gotten themselves in over their heads. He knew Goku and his father would have no trouble adapting to the situation, they would enjoy the training and fighting immensely. They couldn't help it, it was their natural Saiyan instinct to love to fight. Goku was driven by sheer the sheer fun of it, his father was driven by the need to be the best, to be better than Goku. It was funny sometimes, to see him so consumed with the fire to be the best, other times, it was not.  
  
It was strange when he thought about his father. He grew up never knowing him. And now, here he was, in his life for the first time. He was certainly an interesting man. He was shocked, at first, at his personality. He had no idea what his father was like except for the stories his mother told him, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was to find. His father was a complicated man with a past as terrible as his own. He could see where he had gotten his rage from, life had been so cruel to him. Never had he been truly loved. He was sold into Frieza's possession as a child before his planet was destroyed, then raised to fight and destroy in order to please his master. He was demeaned and forced to swallow his pride for so long, it made him hard, callous.   
  
Apparently, when he came to Earth, all of that changed. When he had been showed mercy by Goku, when he had stopped Killing from ending his father's life, that is when the change began. Never before had someone done something kind for him. It was a shock to Vegeta, who did not know how to react. Ever since then, he had been trying to get the upper hand on Goku, trying to prove himself. The reason Trunks knew all this was from the year he had spent with him in the Room of Spirit and Time. He was able to catch glimpses into his father's psyche and learned his father was not the hateful, angry man he pretended to be.   
  
If all that was stripped away, you would find a man who was insecure in relationships, feared intimacy, and all he had to rely on was his pride. He isolated himself from others because he did not want to get hurt. That is why he and his mother could never stay together. Along with their obstinately stubborn personalities and inflamed pride, Vegeta was afraid. He had never known love before, and pulled away. But he knew that he still loved his mother, no matter how he acted to the contrary. He was as father now, as well, and if his reaction after his own near death at the hands of Cell was any indication, Vegeta was not the man he pretended to be.  
  
When he had heard that his father was in the infirmary he was not really worried. His father would be fine, the only thing hurting tomorrow morning would be his ego. But, these Necrons that kept popping up in places they shouldn't, that was bothering him. This new enemy, seemingly invincible, was totally foreign to him. Every other being they had faced had some anterior motive, greed, power, money, but these Necrons, they had no desire other than the total annihilation of the Coalition. He had been the only one to read the information provided to them, and what he found was disturbing indeed.   
  
When they were to make the final stand on the planet, what was it? Gargantua, when they were to make their final stand on Gargantua, there would be no taunting, no gloating, no threats. The Necrons would ignore them until they attacked them, and would return to their objective as soon as they were no longer a factor. It scared him, really. They were to fight an enemy seemingly without a soul, without emotions. If they didn't have emotions. what did that make them? Something to be feared, he was sure of that.  
  
He looked back at his mother, which gave him an odd feeling indeed. She was turned away from him, and as far as he could tell, she was asleep. It was odd seeing mother so...young. And she was different too. She was so happy, so full of energy. Back home, his mother seemed to have lost that, she seemed so, sad. He could understand why. She was probably longing for days like these, when everyone was still alive, going off on some great adventure. But for her, there were no more adventures, everyone was dead. He started to choke up again, something he did with less frequency now, but it still happened from time to time.   
  
It wasn't that he was sad for these people dying, for he had never knew them. Except for Gohan, that is. He was sad because of what he never had. All this, the camaraderie they shared, the lives they lived, the sheer essence of it all. Back home, it was just he and his mother, living in a dying world, wondering when their time would come. But now, things were as they should have been, they way his mother remembered them, and that tore at his heart. Trunks turned back to the window and tried to regain his composure. It didn't work.  
  
Bulma was able to hear Trunks softly crying, and her gut wrenched. She knew he was probably thinking about his home, and about how it was so much worse than here. It was so odd for her, because she was his mother, but at the same time was not. She was not the one who raised him in a destroyed world, she was not the woman he grew up with. She had her own son in the crib next to her, but at the same time, the young man standing at the far end of the room was that same child. Some would question her logic of bringing her child along with her to a war-torn sector of the galaxy, but she could not bear to be separated from her infant son for six months or more. It would be wrong of her to leave him in her parents' care while she went away, possibly with a chance of never returning. She loved her son, and nothing would ever keep them apart.   
  
The universe worked in strange ways, but the last few years had been a series of twists and turns none of them could have expected. The biggest had been her and Vegeta's relationship, and Trunks coming back in time. She remembered how she and Vegeta had been subtlety growing closer while he stayed at Capsule Corp. He still had been the brash, hostile, volatile man he always was, but something was different. Then, it had accumulated in a single night of passion. He left the next morning. She was so shocked that she didn't mind until she found out she was pregnant.   
  
When Vegeta found out, he had taken it silently, but he was definitely surprised. He never said a word about it though. Once she had Trunks, Vegeta stopped by much more often, usually making some excuse as to why, but they both knew he was there to see his son. He was immensely proud that he had sired a son, something that was evident when the fire in his eyes lit up when he looked at him. She knew he loved his son, although he would never use those words...  
  
She focused her attention on the sniffeling. She could no longer bear it and went over to comfort him. He didn't sense her approach until she had put her hand on his shoulder. He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes and play it off as he turned to her.  
  
"Mom, wha, what are you doing up?" *sniff*  
  
"It's okay, Trunks." she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay."  
  
"Oh, mom," was all he could manage to say before breaking down again. He hugged her back and cried on her shoulder for a long time.  
  
Bulma was touched by her sons outpour of her emotion. At least she knew he would not grow up to be like his father. So she held him for quite a while before he pulled back and assured her he was okay. They went to their respective beds and fell asleep quite quickly, for each knew tomorrow would hold its own set trials, and that from here on out, things would be getting serious.  
  
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	20. Reflections, part two (B)

And in a bed across the room from the transforming Eve, Vegeta was dreaming. His dreams lacked any of the pleasantness of Eve's. The scene being portrayed in his mind was as dark as it was terrifying. He was alone on the battlefield, battered, broken, and beaten. Before him stood all of the opponents he had ever faced. There were thousands of them, most of whom he had killed without even flinching, and some of the more notables, such as Frieza and Cell. But Goku was not in front of him, nor was Android 18. They were at his back, as bloodied and weakened as himself. Soon his enemies began to laugh at him, mocked him, took satisfaction in seeing his defeat. Only one of them was not laughing.  
  
The black figure stood there amidst the sea of laughter, its lifeless red eyes burning, sending more fear into his being than he had ever known. Facing death was not what scared him, but what lurked behind those eyes did. They were so detached, so lifeless, yet so focused and piercing, he felt as if they could see into his soul. The laughter began to swell to a roar as the figure approached him, blocking out all other sound. Soon the crowd of his vanquished foes began to fade and blur, then disappeared entirely, leaving only himself and the black figure.   
  
As the darkness approached an overwhelming sense of dread swept over him. He felt as if he was leaving something behind, something that had been left unresolved for the longest time, but he could not remember what it was. He tried in vain to gather his energy to make one final rush at the figure, realizing that he had no more energy to give. All of what he had left was keeping him standing. The figure was almost on top of him when streaks of gold, white, and green began to fill his field of vision. The colors all focused on the blackness but were soon swallowed and spat out.   
  
The next thing he knew he was cold from the neck down. There was no pain, but he knew he was dying, or rather, he was dead. Vegeta blinked and then was outside his body, looking at himself. The black figure's arm had completely severed his head from his neck, and his body lay lifeless on the ground, his head a few feet away. Now he felt himself slowly being drawn upward, pulled toward something he could not see or touch, but nonetheless knew existed. As he continued his ascent he was able to get a better view of the world below him. What he saw left him in speechless.  
  
There was fire and smoke all over, dancing in a strangely beautiful way to an unheard rhythm. There were colored blasts seemingly emanating from nowhere all around below him. When the blast impacted their targets a dull roar could be heard, followed by a slight vibration in the earth. He became aware of hundreds of thousands of beings below him, their movements detectable in the light of the flames and from the exterior lights of their suits. Vehicles were also discernable amidst the din of war. And far, far away on the horizon were gigantic buildings the likes of which he had never seen. As he looked at them, he realized what he left behind was in them.  
  
Vegeta was pulled up even further, above the clouds, and soon the raging man-made tempest blurred and disappeared from sight. But not from his ears. He could still hear it as his attention was drawn upwards buy huge flashes of light. Unlike the scene below him, this gave off no noise. It was a silent ballet of interweaving ships and beams, torpedoes and railguns, all moving to the cadence of war. Vegeta scolded himself for the use of such prosaic analogies. When he focused more on one section of the battle he could divide the ships into two categories: black ones and grey ones.   
  
There was much more black than grey. Tiny dots moved all about the scene, adding their tiny pinpoints of light to the fray. But those tiny pinpoints of light often turned into giant tendrils of flame. Beams carved obscure shaps into armored plating or completely vaporized smaller vessels. When one of the larger ships was destroyed he watched in fascination as explosions rippled across their hulls, breaking the ships breaking into dozens of smaller sections, and then as the smaller pieces in turn detonated. Each of the broken ships soon became still as their fires died in the vacuum.   
  
A terribly bright flash forced him to close his as, but when he opened them again he was no longer in the air. He was on the ground inside a foreign complex. Somehow, he knew the way to go, and knew he had to get there fast. The halls echoed and rocked as the earth trembled beneath the onslaught of the dark invaders, causing the dim red emergency lights to flicker occasionally. He moved with urgency down empty halls until he came upon a plain sealed door, indiscernible from the rest, yet he knew he had arrived. He walked through it with ease, but the sight inside caused his heart to wrench. Huddled in the far corner of the room was a terrified woman with a silent baby.  
  
The woman took no notice of his entry, and he approached her. Tears were streaming down her face, yet she made no noise, she simply stared blankly at a point in the room. In her arms was a purple-haired child that was lifeless and blue. Vegeta was struck with a feeling of sorrow and complete rage at the same time. He wanted more than anything to comfort the stunned woman and hold her close, to tell her the great lie that everything would be alright. He wanted to make up for all the time he had been away from her, let her down, ignored her, but knew that it was too little, too late.   
  
He reached down to caress her face, to feel her softness one last time, but once again the scene changed. He was now alone in a black void, surrounded only by nothingness and his rage. He wanted to lash out as he had done so many times before, destroy something, kill something to alleviate the pain that hurt him more than any blow, any energy blast, any thing, had hurt him before. Yet there was nothing there. His rage soon melted into sorrow as he realized that his life had been nothing more than he allowed it to be. He broke down and wept.  
  
After what seemed like a short time he became aware of a presence in the void, something unlike he had ever felt before. His rage soon returned and was prepared to unleash his full fury on this intruder. When he saw that it was himself he froze. Something inside him said that it was only his body, not his soul. When he heard himself speak he knew this to be true.  
  
"What you have just witnessed is the shape of things to come," his reflection spoke.  
  
"Who are you?" Vegeta inquired with wonder.  
  
"My name is Solarak, and you shall meet me quite soon, in the place that you call reality."  
  
"What is this place?"  
  
"I am surprised that you creatures have such limitations on your mind. You have evolved your bodies to their fullest potential, but you have yet to realize the powers of your essence. This, Saiyan Prince, is merely a dream within your mind."  
  
"How do you know who I am?"   
  
"I am in your brain, young Saiyan, I know everything about you. I know your past, and to some extent, your future. I know your strengths, your weaknesses, I know you better than you know yourself."  
  
"What are you doing in my brain?" Vegeta asked with more of a hostile tone. He did not like his privacy to be invaded.  
  
"You know why I was here, and you know why I showed you the images you just saw. I can only hope that you will take the course of action you know to be best. I am going to leave you to yourself now, but I want you to remember something."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"That time is the most important thing in the universe. You cannot acquire more of it, and once it has passed you can never get it back. I suggest you value the time you have left, Prince, for the future holds trials the likes of which you have never known."  
  
Before Vegeta could respond everything was gone. His subconscious had abruptly shut down, and he fell into a dreamless sleep. The next day would be the beginning of a change for Vegeta, and it would be a change for the better. But his reverse in attitude meant little in the scheme of things. He was to play only a small part in the events to come, for a plan had been set in motion a thousand light years away that would determine the outcome of the final events, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it  



	21. Playing God

*This chapter could not have been successfully completed if it were not for the help of Becky Tailweaver. A good bit of the information I found on her site and used with her consent (well, I kinda just took it and she didn't object). It proved to be invaluable to making this chapter as believable as possible, for a fanfic. She also betaed this chapter for me, and pointed out some glaring errors and gave even more helpful advice. If you have not read any of her work, I highly suggest you do. She is a fantastic author, even better than me. (not that I would ever admit to that, mind you) So, in short, I thank Becky for her help, and tell the rest of you to read her work. Now I'll stop groveling and give you the damn chapter. (ego...in need...of boost...must find newbies...make...them cry...)*   
  
  
  
20  
  
"The chief obstacle to the progress  
of the human race is the human race."  
-Don Marquis  
  
  
GSDX231987-OH2  
File report status: Classified, Authorized Eyes Only  
Document created 7.12.37  
Author: Classified, Echo Charlie Tango status required to access  
Subject: Humanity  
  
::/The following is the original transcript of GSDX231987-OH2/ GSDX231987-OH3 was published and severely edited for viewing by the Galactic Coalition Science Board/ How original format was retrieved by the user is unknown at this time/::   
  
As I write this, I have come to question the ethics and methods of my employers. The research and tests my colleagues and I have performed have yielded fantastic results, but the outcome of our actions cannot be determined as of yet. I can only pray that we have not doomed our entire civilization, however absurd that sounds now. We should not have prodded, not tinkered with the force we found ourselves confronted with. This report will follow a rather informal format because I lack the energy and concentration to indulge in such frivolity.  
  
As it is known, Terrans are by far the weakest sentient race that had been discovered. They are relatively short-lived, small, and biologically inferior to other races. On average, Terran males are six to twelve inches shorter and fifty to a hundred pounds lighter than their Saiyan and Thrakan counterparts. Nameks are generally a foot taller than Terran males, however they weigh about the same due to their gastropod heritage. Terrans females are approximately three to ten inches shorter and sixty to a hundred pounds lighter than their Saiyan and Thrakan counterparts. (Nameks are considered male by the Galactic Coalition Science Board)  
  
Terrans evolved on a small, low-gee planet known as Earth, third from its sun, in the rather isolated system of Sol. The species soon became the dominant form of life on the planet after a variety of radical ecological changes took place. Terrans developed their technology at a rather slow rate compared to other races, but were not significantly behind in most respects. It is recorded that the Amnians took the first Terrans from Earth sometime in the tenth and eleven centuries, shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire.  
  
As a whole they are volatile, greedy, and devious when dealing with others of their own species. The family unit is not a prevalent instinct, and therefore a cohesive governing body is difficult to create and maintain. Unlike Saiyans and Nameks, for example, Terrans are often distrusting and even hostile towards their leaders. The human ego tends to supercede any bond that the individual forms with another individual. This is one of the great pitfall of our species. However, it is also important to note that there are some groups that are extremely devoted to a leader or group, but this too often causes problems.  
  
Genetically and biologically, Terrans are primitive monkeys compared to the others. Humans are unable to regenerate limbs, lack a second nervous system, have significantly less muscle mass than other species, and have a difficult time manipulating and controlling ki. It is these fundamental weaknesses that almost destroyed the human race in the Tycho system during the World Wars on the homeworlds. Had they not allied with the Saiyans at the end, we would have been wiped out.  
  
But mention must also be made of Terran strengths, however simple they may be. Terrans have unusually strong depth perception and color sensitivity, thus giving them the edge when it comes to matters of sight. The Terran sense of smell is not very acute but taste is disproportionately strong. While the range of Terran hearing is limited, they have the ability to detect slight nuances in the range in which they can hear, thus their predisposition for music. Terrans are also the only species in which empathy and telepathy are natural traits. Those genes responsible for the traits have been successfully bred into other species, however Terrans are generally better suited for the roles in which their abilities are utilized.   
  
It has already been established that the Terran body is a relatively inefficient and primitive vessel, but what they lack in their body they make up for with their brain. All of the sentient races in the Tycho system have similar brain structure. However, the human brain differs in some amazing ways. Thrakans, for example, use 83% of their brain at any given time. Nameks use 80% and Saiyans use 75%. Terrans however, use only 12% of their brain. This is an astonishing find that has gone unexplained since its discovery. It may explain, however, the Terrans' natural psychic potential.  
  
In higher brain function, it takes nearly all of the faculties of another species' brain to equal that of a Terran. This means that while all of the races have similar IQs and learning functions, Terrans have a tremendous amount of untapped potential. Saiyans excel in areas that require tactical thinking, accurate target memory, and other aspects of a predatory/hunting nature. Thrakans excel in this area as well, along with nonverbal communication and problem solving. Nameks specialize in environmental awareness and are particularly 'in tune' with the world around them. The Namek race is also divided into two particular castes, healers and fighters. The fighters have an extreme photographic memory and are excellent at target assessment. The healers tend to be thinkers and possess the ability to read, store, and remember a vast amount of data.   
  
These facts explain why most of the scientific community of the Coalition are Terran, while most of the members of the armed forces are Saiyan and Thrakan. Nameks have the potential to swing either way, as they do not fall into the extremes. Terrans are best at things involving mathematics, sciences, and the arts, as well as creative and abstract thinking. Mankind by far has the most artistically expressive culture, and provides most of the Coalition with its literature, music, and entertainment. Most technological and scientific breakthroughs have been made by mankind as well, even though it is the other races that most benefit from our technology.  
  
There is an important fact in the matter of a Terran transformation that must be mentioned. A full Terran genetic code is required for it to be possible. If there is any other DNA present, the transformation will that of the other race, and not have the properties of a Terran transformation. Also, a Terran transformation cannot be forced, unlike Saiyan and Thrakan transformations. We have been unsuccessful in the forced transformations, as all of the subjects died shortly after attaining the new level of power. We didn't even have time to run any test batteries. As it stands. Jake Devaro is the only human capable of surviving a Terran transformation. We went through eighteen perfectly viable test subjects before High Command got the message.  
  
Now I will explain how something has changed in our fundamental understanding of mankind. Three years ago, a young Terran male was brought into our research facility. His name was Jake Devaro. He was orphaned as a young child and raised in an orphanage in the Abrel system. He was an excellent student and made his way into the Academy where he excelled in his studies. But he was never happy, for he wanted not to be a scholar, but a warrior. This young man had the spirit and the commitment to become one, but his body was the limiting factor. The truth was that humans were simply not strong enough to become fighters of a truly significant caliber.  
  
Mr. Devaro was quite strong for a human, but he was not even the strongest of his species. He lagged far behind his Namek, Saiyan, and Thrakan peers who thought of him as nothing more than a runt with an unbreakable spirit. As it turns out, Mr. Devaro had somehow unlocked all the untapped potential of mankind. One day he simply strolled into the arena and was able to easily defeat its strongest warriors, the Dean and his pupil. The most amazing fact of the whole situation was the sheer magnitude of his power and his innate ability to easily control it. It takes even the strongest Saiyans years to learn to harness and tame their immense power. Jake Devaro was able to do it in one night.  
  
Unfortunately, SpecOps got to Mr. Devaro before we did. The damn fools in the Psych Corps nearly destroyed his mind before we were able to examine him. Why they felt it necessary to break him down so severely I can only speculate. Perhaps they were afraid of his power and had to be sure that he could never become a possible threat to Coalition security. Or perhaps they were simply jealous. All I know is that his brain was fried when we began to run the tests.   
  
It turns out the tests we ran on his body were practically useless. We did the usual DNA scans and body analysis and found the only thing of note was his increased muscle and bone density. When we did the cranial scans, however, what we saw was a glimpse of Pandora's box. His brain activity rose from twelve to ninety seven percent. His memory capacity had increased twelve fold, his body senses became hyper-sensitive, his ability to learn and understand was exponentially increased. His mind had suddenly unleashed its full potential. Unfortunately, we were unable to examine it thoroughly because of the damage Pysch Corps inflicted. They had found something they obviously did not want us to know.  
  
What I am sure of now, is that Mr. Devaro has become the epitome of human evolution. The only problem is his body cannot fully utilize the powers his mind has made available. He now has abilities he does not know exist, and may never know, unless he somehow finds a way to discard his body and survive. Why no other human has ever achieved this state of advancement is uncertain. My colleagues and I believe that something had set him off, a trigger if you will. This trigger apparently awoke the untapped recesses of his mind to confront an unknown enemy. We believe this enemy to be why Psych Corps has scarred his mind.  
  
Unfortunately, Mr. Devaro has managed to scare everyone in the Blue Six High Command. As I write this, the Pysch Corps is destroying a vast amount of his newfound abilities. They have decide to leave a few intact, the few that will directly benefit the Coalition. What I am unsure of is why they elected to destroy his chance to become the single most intelligent being in the universe. I can only cite fear as the reason. They are scared of him because he is so much better than they. From what my sources tell me he was never a dangerous or even hostile person. Most of the lower-echelon telepaths and empaths felt him to be no threat at all. But, as usual, paranoia is what dictates policy.  
  
He will never know of the fantastic power he once had. He will simply become a soldier to fight in whatever war comes next. While his power as a warrior is undeniable, his power as an intellect could have been far greater. They will make him into one of their operatives, and it is safe to assume he will be fully indoctrinated, which means another battery of psychic torture and forced learning. They tell me the majority of his personality will be allowed to remain intact, but how much of it is him, and how much of it is of Blue Six creation will never be known.  
  
I said at the beginning of this report that we may have doomed our civilization. I believe this to be so because our tinkering with the natural evolution of a species is fundamentally wrong. We should not have selectively destroyed parts of his mind. They were awoken for a reason, because of that trigger. The Saiyan and Thrakan transformations are triggered as the result of a need. Jake Devaro had no need at the time, but the trigger formed it. What he saw in his mind only he, High Command, and Psych. Corps know now. Whatever it was, it was not good.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	22. Training, Day One

21  
  
11.4.43  
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System  
0650 Hours  
  
Promptly at 0600 hours, all those who were to begin their training awoke and prepared for the day. All had managed to make their way to the mess hall where they ate a hardy yet foreign breakfast, mainly comprising of nutrient-dense pastes and breads. 18 wasn't sure whether to eat or not. Dr. Gero had given her and 17 a stomach, but she derived her power from a tiny fusion reactor situated where her heart would be. She decided to at least eat a little to try and fit in.   
  
Vegeta, who ate alone, was grumpy from waking up in the infirmary. His ego was a bit bruised from having his mind warped by an alien, as the doctor had explained to him, and being so easily beaten by a mere human. It was infuriating how people who were much stronger than himself keep popping up and challenging his power. Kakkarot was bad enough, but Cell? the boy?, and now this? His face contorted with anger as he thought of this.   
  
Goku, who was surprised at being full after only eating a small portion, led the group to the training area when they had finished their meals. Vegeta, as usual, trailed in the back. His mind was still racing from the strange dream he had the previous night and was trying to determine if it was merely a nightmare, or something more.  
  
When they entered the training room they found Sabre awaiting their arrival. He had since shed his previous outfit and was now wearing only a pair of loose fitting shorts that hung just above his knees, and shoes. Since he was not wearing a shirt, numerous scars were apparent on his chest and sides, the largest one being a jagged slash running from his right pectoral down to his hip.   
  
"Ahh, glad to see you all made it on time," Sabre said to the group of assembled warriors. "Here is how it's going to be done. Apparently, scientists back home have figured out that whenever a species transforms, their base power is multiplied to some extent. Now, while training in the transformed state can yield positive results, it turns out that training in our base forms is more efficient and thus yields even better results. So, for now, all of us will be training more or less at the same level. This means that no one gets left behind. How does all of this sound?"  
  
Krillin spoke up and said, a bit out of character, "Sounds good, when do we get to start?"  
  
Goku took note of Krillin's eagerness.  
  
"Now, if you all are ready. Everyone, grab a partner. I'll take the odd man out."  
  
Vegeta wasted no time in choosing his partner. "Kakkarot, you and I will fight!"  
  
"Sure Vegeta, whatever you want," Goku said with his usual cocky grin.  
  
"Uh, Piccolo, would you mind if we trained together?" Gohan asked timidly.  
  
"Sure kid, it'll be just like old times," the Namek replied. Gohan's face lit up.  
  
"Hey, Yamcha, you wanna give it a go?" Tien proposed.  
  
"Sure," the three-eyed man responded cheerfully.  
  
"Uh, Krillin, I guess that leaves you and me," Trunks said. He didn't even consider Android 18. He wasn't sure if he would be able to hold back and not kill her during training. She just looked so much like the other one...  
  
Krillin looked almost depressed for a moment, but perked up in a second. "Sure man, I've always wanted to see how I'd measure up to one of you guys!" He said, referring to the Saiyans.  
  
"Alright you guys, I guess that settles it. 18, you and I will be partners, for now anyway."  
  
18 wasn't sure what he meant by that. "Uh, okay, whatever."  
  
"Okay everyone, just pick a spot and start up. I won't interfere with any of your training until later today. I just want to see what you all can do." With that, Sabre motioned to 18 to come over to him.   
  
He gave a thumbs-up sign to the lone operator in the control room. In a few moments, the entire room was filled with a face-paced techno beat which all found to be rather pleasant, if strange. Each pair took up various positions in the mammoth chamber, some in the air, some on the ground. It didn't really matter though, in time they would be all over both. Everyone stretched first, knowing that was perhaps the most vital component of their warm-ups. A pulled muscle in the middle of an intense training session could lead to big problems.  
  
18 walked up to Sabre when he finished his stretching. "How do you want to do this?"  
  
"Whatever suits you. I think I'll be able to keep up with whatever you throw at me,"  
he replied.  
  
"Fine," she said flatly.   
  
All around the room similar exchanges were occurring, albeit in a more friendly matter. Vegeta had stopped thinking about his dream and was focused solely on defeating his nemesis.  
  
"He may be stronger than me as a Super Saiyan, but now we are equals. Oh, Kakkarot, how I will enjoy making you bleed..." Vegeta thought to himself maliciously.  
  
As if Goku read his thoughts, he said, "Hey Vegeta, let's try and keep this clean, okay?"  
  
"Ha! I will fight however I see fit Kakkarot, now defend yourself!" Vegeta retorted as he flew at Goku. They soon disappeared in a blur of punches and kicks and the rest of the group took this as the signal to commence their sparring. The room became filled with the sounds of combat as punches, kicks, and ki blasts were heard being blocked and deflected. No one was foolish enough to start their training at full power, but as time wore on the ki blasts became bigger and the blows were striking harder.  
  
Krillin was quite pleased with himself because he was able to keep up with Trunks. The Saiyans had spent most of their time training as Super Saiyans, so their power levels were comparable to the rest of the fighters.  
  
"Man," Krillin thought as he deflected Trunks's kick with his forearm, "this is just like old times. Well, almost like old times," as he remembered he was fighting with a boy from the future. Trunks managed to catch him off guard and landed a punch square into Krillin's gut. Krillin doubled over for a moment but quickly recovered and responded with a kick to Trunks's head.  
  
In Tien and Yamcha's sparring match, Tien clearly held the upper hand. He was taking the training just as seriously as he said he would the night before. Yamcha had to spend all of his energy just trying to evade and block his opponent's blows.   
  
"Hey, man, would you tone it down a little?" Yamcha asked.  
  
"How about you turn it up," was Tien's terse reply as his uppercut sent Yamcha straight into the air.  
  
"Aw, man," Yamcha thought, "why did I have to go with Tien? I should have gone with Krillin..." his train of thought was lost when Tien's knee impacted his head.  
  
Gohan was having an immense amount of fun while fighting with Piccolo, and Piccolo, while he would never admit it, was enjoying it as well. The two had developed a bond that was as close as Piccolo would ever come to love.   
  
"Hey Piccolo," Gohan yelled, "watch this!" Piccolo watched in amazement as Gohan placed two fingers on his head and smiled. "Special Beam Cannon!" (or should I use the Jap name?) his high pitched voice cried as the corkscrew beam shot from his fingers.  
  
Piccolo countered and destroyed the blast with one of his own, but was shocked that the boy had learned it at all. "Where did you learn to do that, kid?"  
  
"I learned it from you, Piccolo!" Gohan said excitedly. "When dad and I were training in the Room of Spirit and Time I had figured I would try and learn it. It took me a while, but I got it down! What d'ya think?"  
  
"I think you shouldn't let your guard down," Piccolo said as he drove his elbow into Gohan's gut.  
  
Goku and Vegeta were the two who were going at it the hardest and had barely exchanged two words the entire time. Goku realized that Vegeta was as strong, if not stronger than him in their regular forms. And Vegeta was fully taking advantage of that fact.  
  
"Whoa Vegeta, what are you trying to do, kill me?" Goku asked as he narrowly avoided a blow to the back of the neck from his sparring partner.  
  
"Quit your whining, Kakkarot! If you can't handle training with me, why don't you go train with the cueball." Vegeta taunted.  
  
Krillin heard this and looked at Vegeta with an annoyed expression.  
  
"Go back to training with the boy," Vegeta commanded with a smug expression.  
  
Krillin mumbled something as he returned to his match.  
  
"Hey Vegeta!" Goku cried as he shot towards him. Vegeta prepared to block but was left confused for a moment as Goku seemingly passed through him. Suddenly he came from above and landed a strong kick to the side of his head, sending the Saiyan prince tumbling to the ground.   
  
"See what happens when you get arrogant? Jeez Vegeta, I thought you would have learned by now," Goku said with a chuckle.  
  
Vegeta pulled himself off the floor and wiped a small trickle of blood from his lip. He looked at the third class Saiyan and felt a mixture of rage and respect. Wordlessly, they launched themselves at each other and continued their fight.  
  
Jake was keeping tabs on all the fighters as best he could. 18 wasn't making things easy for him, so sometimes he would lose track of them. He had come to realize that while this group had fought together numerous times in the past, they were hardly a unified team. Most of the humans harbored a resentment of their Saiyan friends and often underestimated their own abilities. Vegeta was a major source of tension in the group, as he wasn't really a 'team player'. And Goku, their unofficial leader, had the tendency of being a little too compassionate.  
  
"Well, I guess that's why I have to train them," Jake thought to himself. The back of 18's fist nearly slammed into his face, forcing him to return to the matter at hand. The android was really a fascinating creation. It had taken the Coalition nearly two hundred years to perfect their own artificial intelligences, yet this Dr. Gero had managed to do it in the span of his own lifetime. If he had not known any better, he could have sworn she was human, and that surprised him. Most of the Coalition's androids had distinct traits that could identify them as such, but this Android 18 might as well have been human.  
  
She seemed to have genuine emotions, her own personality, her own will. He wondered if she even thought of herself different than the others. He couldn't really get a read off her, one, because he wasn't an empath, and two, he was terrible with girls. And man, she sure did look like a girl. He decided to open up a dialogue, mainly because he could tell she was not truly accepted by the others, which was to be expected since she was involved in nearly killing them all.  
  
"So, 18, what do you think of this whole situation so far?" Jake asked while sending a flurry of blows at her.  
  
She deflected them and responded. "What I want to know is your real name."  
  
Jake wasn't expecting that. "My name?"   
  
"Yes, your real name. I was looking through the ship's database and it turns out your real name is classified."  
  
"What was she doing looking through the ships databanks?" he wondered. "Well, she is an android, and she must have easily figured out how to interact with the Dante's own AI."  
  
"My name real name is Jake," he said reluctantly as he parried a blow to his stomach.  
  
"Well, then, Jake, what is it you want to know? How I feel about this whole situation? I'll tell you," she said with an increasingly hostile tone.  
  
"I was absorbed by that damn monster and thrown up when that boy defeated him. My friend 16 was destroyed and my brother was killed. Now, I am onboard a spaceship training with the very same people that are responsible for killing them to fight an enemy we didn't even know existed until today." As she spoke her attacks were becoming stronger and more accurate.   
  
"She's feeding off her anger," he realized. "I didn't think that was possible for androids." He decided to try something. As 18 continued her furious attack, Jake began to gather some energy for a ki blast. As she swung back to deliver a right hook, he discharged his attack directly into her face. Temporarily blinded and stunned, she faltered a bit in the air. Jake wasted no time and knocked her to the ground with an overhead smash. He followed her to the floor and stomped as hard as he could on her wrist.   
  
After a sickening snap 18 screamed in agony. Jake lifted his foot in surprise as she rolled away and tucked her shattered hand under her other good arm. She got to her feet with a look of pain mixed with rage on her face.  
  
"Why the HELL did you do that for?!" she cried. By this time everyone had stopped their sparring and turned their attention to 18.  
  
While inwardly Jake was truly sorry and embarrassed he had hurt her, he didn't let that show to the others.   
  
"I had to test something," he evenly replied  
  
"And just what the hell are you testing?" Krillin asked, the anger clearly evident in his voice.  
  
"She's not an android, exactly."  
  
"What do you mean I'm not an android? I was created by Dr. Gero in a laboratory. What do you think that makes me?"  
  
"No, you friend, 16 was an android. Your brother wasn't and neither are you. You're a cyborg."  
  
"So, what does that mean?" Krillin asked.  
  
"Nothing, really, I thought she was far too advanced to be a simple machine, and I was right." Everyone was glaring at him now. "Look guys, this doesn't concern you. Just go back to training."   
  
No one moved.  
  
Jake realized they really didn't like him. Fortunately, Goku spoke up and relived the tension. "C'mon guys, you heard him, let's get back to it. Besides, I still have to show Vegeta the thirty different ways I can beat him."  
  
Vegeta immediately responded to the taunt. "Kakkarot, I will crush you!" he roared as he flew at his nemesis. The others decided it was best to go back to sparring, they didn't want to get too much into this new guy's business, not when he could kill them all without even trying.   
  
18 still glared at him. "This really hurts, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know it does. I just wanted to see if you could feel pain. No android can really feel pain. They may have a programmed response to a broken bone or a stubbed toe, but they merely do that so they don't seem too much like machines."  
  
"Well how do you know that my pain isn't simply an automated response?"  
  
"Because nothing else about you is automated. You are too 'human' to be a machine, but then again you were created in a lab out of silicon and neural connectors. Look at you, you're bleeding. Machines, androids, don't bleed."  
  
True enough, 18 had a good bit of blood trickling down her arm from where a piece of her metal skeleton had punctured the skin.  
  
"So why was it necessary to break my damn wrist?"  
  
Jake thought about that one. Why was that? Lately he had been thinking about his actions in the past, and not all of them had been logical or rational or even emotional. He had just gotten urges to do things, and did them.  
  
"I, uh, I guess it wasn't. Don't worry, we have a first aid kit over there."  
  
"Yeah, so what do I do about this?" She held up her bloodied arm and a few dangling wires were visible from where her metal skeleton had punctured her skin. Her hand hung limply from her wrist.  
  
"Shit," he thought to himself. "Uh, come with me." Jake took her hand and teleported out of the room.   
  
Everyone immediately took notice of his absence and had stopped their training. Before anyone could speak he had returned, albeit with out 18.   
  
"Hey, where's 18?" Krillin asked.  
  
"She's getting repaired. She'll be back here in a few minutes. Just go back to sparring. I'll watch you guys and get a gauge of your techniques and power, for now."  
  
Despite the fact is was very awkward for them to be told to go back to training like a bunch of kids, they did it, mostly out of fear. They had took notice of what he had done to 18, and his response, and were now wavering in their resolution. This guy was potentially dangerous, but none of them could do anything to stop him.   
  
But no one let their disconcertion show. So the group trained while Sabre watched their every move. He stood off in one corner of the room and was able to view everyone at once. They were nearing their maximum power levels now, four hours into their training, and we focused intently on their respective duels. Piccolo clearly had the upper hand in his match with Gohan, as he was the strongest of them all in their current forms. Trunks had a small edge over Krillin in their fight, although Krillin was getting in some good hits. Tien was giving Yamcha a pretty bad whooping as he clearly wasn't putting his all into it. Goku and Vegeta were dead even, even though Vegeta's power was a good bit greater than his opponent. He was letting his anger control his technique and that was making him sloppy. Every time he scored a good hit on Goku, he would relax a bit and clearly was gloating to himself. And every time, Goku would come back and deliver a blow to knock Vegeta's ego into check.  
  
Jake was making mental notes as to what each fighter needed to work on, and what techniques he could teach them to better their overall abilities. He was also looking forward to what they could teach him. He looked down at his watch to check the time when it felt like a battleship had hit him square in the jaw. He was lifted clear off the floor and sent skidding into the wall with a loud thud. Waves of pain made their way across his face, as did his expression of shock. He looked up to see 18 standing just next to where he had been, a slight smirk on her face.  
  
"Now, we're even."  
  
Jake tried to respond but was stopped when a blinding pain told him to shut the hell up. He wiped a good bit of blood from his lip where his teeth cut his lips. He felt to make sure that his jaw wasn't dislocated, and while it wasn't, it sure felt that way. Jake shook his head and slowly got to his feet, still a bit dizzy. He looked at 18 and could see that Vrakan had managed to repair her arm perfectly, so much so that it was the same arm she had struck him with.  
  
"Ha! Look at that! The high and mighty 'super human' got beat by the android!" came Vegeta's grating voice. Now, more than ever, he really didn't want to hear it.   
  
"Oh, great, I guess everyone saw that," Jake unhappily thought. His ego was hurting worse than his jaw. It wasn't so much the fact that she had hit him, but that he hadn't even seen her coming. "You were sloppy Jake, you should have seen her coming from a mile away."  
  
"That's funny Vegeta, I remember doing something similar to you, only you weren't able to stand up afterwards," 18 responded coldly.  
  
"Are you challenging me, android? I'll break you like the cheap plastic toy you are!"  
  
"Awright, you guys, thawts enuwf!" Jake painfully shouted. "So, we're even now?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You wanna get back to where we weft off?" he managed to say through a clenched jaw.  
  
"I'd like that."  
  
After this exchange everyone was subtly relieved. Now that 18 had returned the favor and Jake hadn't gone berserk, they felt a little better. Maybe it was the fact that they were heading into the unknown that had them so nervous. But for now, they had gained back a little of the respect they had lost for him.  
  
The rest of the training session was uneventful. The group trained for a total of 10 hours, and were surprised to find they were hardly tired or hungry. Jake had explained that the food they had eaten was specifically designed for warriors, and contained enough energy to sustain them at full power for 12 hours. 18 wasn't tired simply because she never could be, thanks to the demented genius Dr. Gero.  
  
While everyone was training, Bulma and Chi-Chi had managed to find things to keep themselves busy. Bulma began to learn how to operate and understand the various technologies the Coalition used, and assimilated the knowledge at a remarkable rate. As it turned out, Chi-Chi had a knack for engineering. She was surprised at how naturally it came to her, and was actually able to assist in the repairs, to an extent. She had no understanding at the fundamental physics and sciences involved, but was able to understand how they worked together. Also, her attention to detail helped a great deal.  
  
Just as Jake had ended the training session and allowed everyone to have the rest of the day off, he received an urgent call from the bridge. He teleported in to see the viewscreen filled with the logo of the Galatic Coalition Special Operations Division and a list of warnings and other official tags.   
  
"I'll take this in my quarters," Jake told the ensign at the comm station.  
  
He transmitted himself to his room and punched a few commands into the monitor on his wall. The same logo appeared on the bridge. He hit the 'open' key on his touchpad, and was then prompted to give voice authorization.  
  
"Devaro, Jake one nine eight five Breaker Diamond Zulu," Jake responded.  
  
"Please place hand on screen to begin DNA scan," the automated voice prompted.  
  
Jake did as he was told and passed the test. The file began its decryption and began to play. When he saw the face on the screen his heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Hey Jake. We just warped back in from that kid's future and the mission was successful. We eliminated the two androids and destroyed the laboratory where the third was developing. It took quite a while to get that boy's mother to trust us, but once we explained everything she calmed down. We debated whether or not to bring her with us, since she is quite a genius, but we figured one Bulma was enough. Besides, I don't really like messing with space-time, all sorts of weird shit can happen. Remember that time on Corvera?"  
  
Her face was as beautiful as ever, her soft black hair cutting off just above her muscular shoulders. Her lips were curved into a smile that gave him a warm, tingling feeling all over. God, he really was in love with her...   
  
"Anyway, we reappeared into this time at 0400 hours. The temporal drives almost crapped out on us and we nearly got stuck two years into the future. That would have been awkward. We received your distress call and are on our way to assist. We just happen to have the parts you need. By 0530 we will have made the final course plot and will hook up with the Dante at approximately 2100 hours. This message should get to you at around 1700 hours because of the transmission distance."  
  
Resa's features darkened and her voice lowered. Her smile had disappeared.   
  
"Now, here is the reason I used the Spec Ops tags. Lately I've been seeing things, mostly shadows in the corridors, but when I round the corner nothing is there. Yeah, I know what this means. I've also been having dreams, nightmares really, and I am almost positive we have a 'Nec infiltration team on board. I've only talked to a few others, and they have the feeling too. I don't know if they know we know, but I'm pretty sure they'll strike before we reach the rendezvous point.  
  
"The problem is, nothing shows up on the scans. This is definitely not good. Either we're all suffering from paranoia or the 'Necs have figured out a way to evade the scans. If they have, then we have a serious breach in Coaltion security."  
  
Resa sighed heavily.  
  
"Jake, this has me worried. I don't know if we can handle them. Most of the crew are technicians that keep the temporal drives from fucking up. I'm the strongest one on board, and then there is Harenta, but we won't be a match for a full infiltration squad. And did you get the latest Blue Six report? They may even have ki dampeners. Oh well, there isn't much we can do now. They have to make the first move."  
  
She seemed almost resigned to her fate, that is until her Saiyan nature kicked in.  
  
"But, if and when they do hit, I'm gonna kill as many of 'em as I can. I'll show the bastards you don't fuck with Spec Ops, especially after Rigel. Oh, they're gonna pay."  
  
Just the name of the planet sent a pang of remorse through him. They never should have been there...  
  
"So, I guess we'll meet up later today. If we don't respond or our approach is screwy, you'll know why. Don't take any unnecessary risks, if we're dead, we're dead. Just nuke the ship and get out of there. If we're alive, well," she cracked a smile, "do us a favor and come get us. Resa out."  
  
A wave of emotion swept through Jake as he thought about the message.  
  
"Do you wish to replay the message?" came the automated voice.  
  
"No."  
  
He was glad to know she was on her way. He was dreading knowing that a Necron infiltration squad was on her ship, and there was nothing he could do. He was torn between hope and frustration, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. If and when things went sour, it would be up to him to fix it. But he wasn't sure he could do it alone.  
  
First of all, there was the issue of the ki dampeners. In the report it had been made a point that the Necrons had the ability to prevent certain individuals from fully powering up. Resa and Jake were among them. Every single being had their own distinct energy signature, even though all ki was similar. It was near impossible to block all energy in the entire ki spectrum, but isolating a single frequency was relatively easy. Hence, the Necrons were able to jam the frequencies of the Coalition's more powerful fighters.  
  
The only drawback to the devices was that they couldn't be used in open environments. It took far too much energy to generate a ki dampening field, and using them in the open would make them vulnerable. They were quite effective however, in closed environments such as buildings, caves, and of course, ships. It would be difficult to fight a whole Necron infiltration team with one of them operating. If that was the case, he would need help.  
  
There were only two viable options, both of which would have to be used in conjunction if things were to work out. The first one was the Gohan. He was the strongest fighter on board next to himself, and he didn't have to worry about the ki dampeners. The only problem was he was still a child, and exposing him to what may be a ship of horrors may have an affect on his performance. But that didn't matter. He would do or die, and that was all there was to it. Besides, this boy had incredible potential, he doubted he would choke on him.  
  
The second option, frankly, scared him. The GCS Dante was originally a cargo transport, modified specifically for this mission. On its last trip it had been carrying a shipment of experimental cyborgs. They were not nearly as powerful as their Necron counterparts, but they excelled in close-quarters combat and were heavily armed enough to tackle any Necron infiltration team. GC High Command had left on board one as a 'gift'. They figured having an extra helping hand could do no harm.   
  
The cyborg's biological half was a Saiyan male named Astor. He had volunteered for the project, and had survived the grafting and implanting of the cybernetics. But, he had lost most of what was himself. He was more machine than man now, a cold and calculating killer who was nearly as apathetic as the Necrons themselves.  
  
"How fitting," he thought. "Fighting fire with fire."  
  
Jake though long and hard about what was going to happen next. He couldn't help but be worried that Resa might be in danger, more so than usual. If she died... he didn't know what he would do. His thought was interrupted however, by an urgent call from the infirmary.   
  
"Yeah, doc, what is it?" Jake asked as he punched up the Doctor's message.   
  
"You are not going to believe this, you have to come down here, NOW." The tone in Renara's voice was a mixture of urgency and wonder. Jake was about to ask what was going on when he saw Eve's face filling up the screen.  
  
"Jake, this is Eve," her voice sounded if as two people were speaking simultaneously. One was hers, the other was...alien.   
  
"We need to talk."  
  
  
  
  
So peeps, there you have it. Chap 21 in its completion. Sorry for the cut-off, I am currently inflicting unfathomable amounts of pain into Notepad. Yeah, I am using word from now on, so this shouldn't happen again. Tell me what you think thus far people, I always like to hear from you.  
  
Once again, I must encourage all of you to read Becky Tailweaver's stuff here on ff.net. She is awesome, blah, blah, blah, you know the bit. She is always giving me helpful advice and is ALWAYS right. I hate that. Next chapter is gonna be very cool, and I can guarantee you won't be disappointed. Until then, thank you for reading my fic.  
  
Oh and Jacob, I thought that Necrons was an orignial name, I didn't know they were in Warhammer 40k. Oh well. And as for all you other questions, you'll find out soon enough. ^_^  
  
  



	23. Eve Wakes Up

11.4.43  
GCS Dante  
1700 Hours  
  
For a moment, Jake was too stunned to move. She was dead, she died right in front of him, how is this possible? He wondered for an instant if he had lost his mind. He dismissed the thought when he focused on Eve's face. There she was, staring at him in real time on the view screen before him.   
  
All Jake could muster were the five words, "be there in a sec," and then he turned off the console.  
  
Jake stared at the blank screen, almost as if it would reveal the answers to his questions. This was just too damn strange. People don't come back to life. Once they die, they are dead, and they stay that way. Forever. What he was seeing was either a bad dream, or he had missed something important somewhere along the line. She had died on the table, hadn't she? Of course she had, Renara was right there with him. The doctor had looked just as shocked as he knew himself to look. And her voice? What was going on?  
  
He hesitated for a few moments, having to work up the will power to move himself from his quarters to the infirmary. For the brief instant he was in transport he wondered if this wasn't some sort of trick, some elaborate Necron scheme. He had no time to continue though as he was now at his destination. He appeared just to the left of Renara while Eve was standing a good ten feet across the room, next to the comm. pad.  
  
Physically, she had not changed at all. She still looked like the frail blonde girl he had rescued back in New York. But she had changed. At first, Jake wasn't aware of it, he was too shocked to pay close attention. It took him a few moments before he noticed something was different.  
  
As he looked at Eve he could se that she was carrying herself with more confidence than she previously had. And he eyes, they seemed almost to sparkle, they radiated the almost imperceptible message, "I am different." He soon came to realize he was feeling the second energy signature that had appeared in her earlier.  
  
Jake turned to the doctor.  
  
"Hey, don't look at me. She woke up on her own. I was about to put her on ice when she opened her eyes. Scared the shit out of me."  
  
"So she wasn't dead?"  
  
"I guess not," the doctor replied simply.  
  
"What the hell do you mean 'I guess not?' " Jake almost shouted.  
  
"Well, it looks like her body went into an extreme state of suspended animation. I mean, I've never seen anything like it. For all intents and purposes she may a as well have been dead. Her body activity had almost entirely ceased. And, I only had her hooked up to the monitors for a few minutes. Maybe if I had her hooked up longer Id've noticed." The doctor almost looked amused.  
  
"So what you're telling me is that if she hadn't woke up just now, she'd be frozen solid?"  
  
"If you put it that way..."  
  
"If you put it that way it means you screwed up! What the hell kind of doctor are you, she wasn't even dead!" Jake was angry now. Mistakes like that should never be made, especially by medical personnel. He was about to give the doctor and ass-chewing when Eve, in a voice certainly not of her own, interrupted.  
  
"Gentlemen, please, we have much to discuss. You may argue later, of you wish."  
  
Jake turned to face her. He was no longer dealing with Eve, he was sure. Whatever was in her was either a symbiote and a parasite. He had to deal with this carefully.  
  
"Who are you, and what are you doing in that girl's body?" He demanded.  
  
"Calm yourself, my friend. I shall explain my presence." Eve paused for a moment as a smile crossed her face. Jake saw no humor in the situation.  
  
"What is so funny?"  
  
"Eve says you are 'cute' when you are angry."  
  
Jake ignored the comment. Almost. "Since I am not talking to Eve, with whom am I speaking?"   
  
"You speak to Solarak, Terran. I am the last of the Amnae. My essence was placed into those crystals your Coalition uses a power source. I have waited for centuries to be awaken by someone that has Amnian blood with them."  
  
"Whoa. Information overload," Jake thought.   
  
While Jake was momentarily preoccupied in thought, Doctor Renara vocalized his questions.  
  
"Uh, Solarak, are you the invisible power that drives the Amnian crystals? Our scientists have never been able to figure out how they can sustain their power output indefinitely."  
  
"Indeed, I am. My power shall remain within the crystals, undiminished, until the end of time."  
  
The doctor turned to Jake.  
  
"Well, how 'bout that? One of the greatest mysteries of the universe solved in what?: 30 seconds?"  
  
"Jake ignored the doctor's amusement. He was more concerned with the possible threat Solarak posed.  
  
As if sensing his suspicion, Solarak tried to assure him.  
  
"I have no hostile intentions, Mr. Devaro, I-"  
  
Jake moved with fantastic speed and grabbed Eve by the throat, lifting her off the ground. He was filled with a rage that had surfaced from the recessed of his mind. He started to squeeze.  
  
"Major, what the fuck are you doing?" the doctor cried.  
  
But Jake couldn't hear him. The only thing that reached his ears was that voice, the voice that was responsible for...? He didn't know. While continuing to crush Eve's throat he tried to remember why that voice triggered his rage. All that was clear was 'Mr. Devaro.' But he had been called that a thousand times before, it was his name for God's sake. What was different now?  
  
Jake's anger slipped away as Eve's started rolling back into her head and the weak grip she had on his arms ceased. He began to hear Renara's screaming when he let go of Eve's throat and dropped to his knees. What the hell was going on?  
  
The doctor rushed to Eve's side as she stumbled and gasped for air. Amazingly, after no more than thirty seconds, her partially crushed throat began to repair itself and the marks on her neck disappeared. She soon shrugged off the doctor and stood on her own. A look of concern crossed her face when her eyes fell upon Jake.  
  
She knelt down in front of him. "Are you alright?"  
  
Her voice was its normal, feminine tone again. He didn't know what to say. After nearly suffocating her to death, she was asking him if he was alright? Nothing was making any sense. Jake's head began to spin.  
  
"Jake, if you only knew what I do, you wouldn't be so surprised. It's not your fault, you didn't deserve what they did to you, no one does." Her voice was sympathetic and understanding.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he managed to ask.  
  
At that instant, Trunks wandered into the infirmary. He was bewildered at the sight before him and stood transfixed in the doorway. He wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was it didn't look good. Renara told him to get his ass out of the doorway. He wondered silently to the gods how he had managed to get himself in another mess.   
  
The doctor walked up to the confused purple-haired boy and told him in a calm and firm tone to leave, and not to tell a soul about what he had just seen or heard. Not even Goku or Bulma. Trunks had no idea what he had just seen or heard, but the got the message. Obviously, he stumbled in on something he shouldn't have. Nodding and once again wishing he could go home, Trunks left the room.  
  
Meanwhile, Jake and Eve had gotten up and moved to the doctor's conference room. When Renara returned they were silent, apparently waiting for his arrival. They spent the next three hours discussing what happened the other day.  
  
Eve did most of the talking. She spoke of Solarak's merging with her, of the great Amnian civilization, and of what she had learned while Solarak fed information into her brain. She made it clear that Solarak could do nothing without her allowing it. His presence augmented her abilities, but she was always in control. He only asked, suggested and hinted at what he would like to know or be done. He was able to reveal to her the extent of his knowledge, but everything else they had learned required Eve's doing.  
  
While her body had been lying on the table aboard the Dante, her mind, with Solarak's guidance, had been accessing Coalition databanks light-years away. Solarak had learned nearly everything there was to know about the Coalition by accessing thousands of databanks throughout the galaxy. Traveling at the speed of thought it didn't take very long. The only places beyond his reach were the super bio-encrypted datavaults in the Tycho system. As a result of their gaining all this knowledge, Eve knew Jake better than he knew himself.  
  
Jake listened patiently as she told what had been done to him. Apparently, the 'scientists' tinkering had left some unexpected side effects, such as his occasional blind impulsiveness and sudden rage. What scared him the most was that he could remember nothing, nothing at all about it. What hurt him the most was that Resa knew all about it and had never said a word to him about it. He reasoned that Resa had to know, because she had been there with him when he went in, and was there when he woke up. He had been betrayed, and it hurt. Unfortunately for him, his personal revelations had to be set aside as the business of the Necrons was brought up.  
  
Occasionally, he or Renara would interrupt with a question, but for the most part she talked and they listened. At last, when she had finished, the entire reality of it all set in. If what she was telling him about the Necrons was true, they were all going to die. Their stand at Gargantua would be the end, and the Coalition would lose. When he went to Earth to recruit Goku and the rest, he knew the situation was grim. He also knew that the Necrons had no intention of ever coming to Earth, it was too small and undeveloped to be bothered with. He had lied in hopes of increasing his chances that they would agree to come with him, and they had. The gamble paid off.  
  
Jake had thought of this as a necessary evil, lying to them. If he convinced the gang that their planet was in danger, they would surely agree to join him. And then, with their help, the Coalition could repel the Necron invasion once and for all. When it was all over, no one would ever know, and things would return to normal. That was when he thought they had a chance.  
  
Now they may as well start digging their own graves. His superiors had lied to him about the size of the Necron force, most likely to placate him. They had been afraid that if he knew what was really going on, he would abandon them, leave them to the endless tide of soulless monsters. It seemed that the upper echelon chain of command feared him and what he may or may not have done as much as the Necrons. After his years of service, after all he had done, the bastards didn't trust him. That word was ricocheting in his mind again. Betrayal.  
  
"So, what are you going to do?" Eve asked him.  
  
Jake didn't hesitate. "I'm going to fight."  
  
Both Renara and Eve were surprised.  
  
"Really, after everything that was done to you?" the doctor asked in disbelief.  
  
"What they did to me, it doesn't change much. I'm not going to turn my back on the entire armed forces and 60 billion people I swore to protect." The fact that half of those 60 billion were dead was staggering. "I got screwed, yeah sure, I'm angry as hell." Jake's eyes seemed to darken, and his tone became ice, "All that means is that a few people are going to die slow, painful deaths. But to quit and run now would be selfish and cowardly." His tone was unsettling, but he felt better now. Holes in his past had been filled and he now knew the truth, no matter how unpleasant it was. He regained his composure and focused on what needed to be done.  
  
"Alright Eve, this Solarak guy that's in you, I'd like to talk to him."  
  
Eve smiled, "Sure, just don't strangle me this time, okay?"   
  
There was absolutely no discernable change when Solarak took control. No blink, no glowing, not even a fluctuation in her energy. It was almost eerie.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Devaro?" Solarak asked in his warped voice. This time, Jake didn't erupt.  
  
"From what Eve tells me, you have fantastic power, but no fighting ability, correct?"  
  
"This is true, none of my race were warriors. We were fatally benevolent."  
  
"Would it be possible for you to utilize your power if Eve was trained to fight with it?"  
  
"If she would allow it, it is feasible."  
  
Jake was pleased his idea would work.   
  
"Well then Eve, it looks like we're going to have to build your body up and turn you into a fighter." Jake forgot he was still talking to Solarak.  
  
"I will be sure to tell her that." Eve's face smiled.  
  
Jake smiled back awkwardly.  
  
"Solarak, how often must you surface, or whatever your doing now is?" the doctor asked.  
  
"Never. I can always talk to you indirectly through Eve. I can see why that would be more comfortable for you. And know this: when I am no longer needed I shall leave this body. I will be awakened again in a time of need. Eve can now speak for the both of us." With that, Eve returned to the forefront of her partnership.  
  
"Eve?"   
  
She nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah, it's me."   
  
Jake slipped into commando mode. "Okay Eve, your training is going to take place at a later date. I am going to be preoccupied for a while. Doc, I received a communiqué from Major D'Jana. She is on her way to assist with repairs, but believes a Necron infiltration team is aboard. You know what that means."  
  
"Yeah, a 94 percent casualty rate. Great."  
  
Jake ignored the doctor's complaint. "I will be taking Gohan and Astor with me when we have to extract the survivors."  
  
"Survivors, yeah, like that is gonna happen."  
  
The major shot Renara a look that sent chills down his spine. "Doctor, there will be survivors, do you understand me?"  
  
He didn't know what to say other than, "Yes, sir."  
  
"And I have had it with your sarcastic remarks, you don't sound like you enjoy your job very much. So why are you here?"  
  
"Hey, I was supposed to be a neurosurgeon on Ticanda before they reassigned me here. This was, mind you, after I served two tours as a field medic with the 26th Space Marines."  
  
That explained his attitude. He was supposed to go back to a cush, rear echelon post after pulling two tours with the grunts, which in itself was an accomplishment. The fatality rates for divisions on their first tour was about 65 percent. For second tours, it climbed to 97%. And now, he had been transferred to this op, most likely for his experience. Jake would be bitter if their roles were reversed.   
  
"I understand where you are coming from doctor. But it had better not affect your performance, do you get me?"  
  
Renara suppressed his anger. "I get you, sir."   
  
"Fine then. Now, I've gotta go activate that freak in storage."  
  
Eve was confused. "Freak?"   
  
"He means Astor, the cyborg. The major doesn't much like them. Nothing like a little unsubstantiated bias, right major?"  
  
"Shut the hell up, Renara. I have my reasons. But you and I both know that our guests aren't going to like the presence of that thing on board this ship. He's a mutilated Saiyan for God's sake, more machine than man."  
  
The doctor saw no point in arguing with him further. He was firmly set in his dislike for cyborgs, and nothing he could say would change that. "Will you need me to accompany you for the activation?"  
  
"No. If there are any problems I can get him to you fast enough. Anyway," Jake turned to Eve, who was surprised at how cold he could be at times, "Eve, feel free to wander the ship. Go talk to Trunks, try to ease his mind. The kid doesn't know what he walked in on. Just remember to use your discretion." The last part sounded more like a warning than advice.  
  
"Yeah, no problem."  
  
"Fine then." Jake stood up. "I'll see you two later." With that, Jake abruptly teleported to a small, empty cargo hangar. Empty, save for the large, rectangular object in the left hand corner of the room. It was Astor's cold storage unit. The device was plain, simply a large rectangular capsule with a temperature regulator.  
  
Astor's cold storage chamber had no need of biological monitoring systems. All of his body functions had become entirely electromechanical and were able to run self-diagnostics and perform repairs. The only thing that signaled his life was a small energy readout on the upper left portion of the chamber. The only other feature on it was a keypad used to activate him. There was no glass panel with which to view him, as such things were considered frivolous and cosmetic.   
  
Jake pondered for a good while about what he was going to awake. He had always made known his dislike for cyborgs. In Jake's opinion, an entity should be entirely mechanical or entirely biological not an unholy mixture of both. To create a being as a combination of the two blurred the line that separate nature from machines. To him they seemed as aberrations of life. And the slaughter of nearly his entire unit at the hands of Necron cyborgs did little to improve his opinion of them.  
  
Cyborgs had been at the forefront of controversy for years before the Necron invasion. Opponents to cybernetics used legal maneuverings and outright sabotage to prevent advancements in the field. Many feared that there would be a division similar that after the development of AI, only it would be far worse because cyborgs combined the best of organics and mechanics. Who knew what a mating of the two would produce?  
  
But, as with all wars, military necessity outweighed the cries of ethicists and protestors. When the Necron invasion began, the military was given the authority to push ahead with research. All of its laboratories were turned into impregnable fortifications, completely out of reach by the general population. It only took two years before the Coalition scientists had created an operational cyborg. Such are the miracles of science.  
  
The hardest part, surprisingly, was not perfecting the technology, as [WW1]simpler forms of it had been used on the majority of space fighter pilots. They essentially 'jacked into' their spacecraft, giving them much more control and skill than they ever could acquire through normal means. It was necessary, considering that space dogfights were many times more complicated than their planet-borne counterparts. The most difficult aspect of developing cyborgs was finding volunteers for the project. Complicating matters was than only four races could survive the augmentation: Terrans, Nameks, Saiyans and Thrakans.  
  
Practically all Saiyans were vehemently opposed to cybernetic alterations to their bodies. They believed that it was dishonorable and weak to make unnecessary changes to one's body. The fact that becoming a cyborg also meant losing most all of their definitive pride and fierceness, and more importantly, their passion was an utterly detestable and unacceptable existence.   
  
Nameks, unlike the fiercely passionate Saiyans were opposed to becoming cyborgs because it meant losing their connection to nature. Nameks preferred to live simple, austere lives, disregarding most forms of technology. There were some notable exceptions, but for the most part Nameks had little love of science and technology. Thus, becoming part machine and lacking their inherent connection to natural life was something they could not allow. Ironically, Nameks being closest to nature were the best suited for cybernetic augmentation due to their incredible regenerative abilities. This greatly frustrated the military.   
  
That left the Terrans and Thrakans, who had the least amount of violent objection to it. Terrans accounted for nearly half of all volunteers, but were the poorest choice for cybernetic adaptation. Nearly 38% of all Terrans died during or shortly after surgery. Thrakans were in general opposed to cybernetics for a hundred different reasons, ranging from conflicting religious beliefs to distrusting new technologies. While they were hardier than Terrans, their bodies more often than not rejected not biological material.  
  
But, in the end, 'volunteers' were found. Some genuinely signed up for the program. Others were coerced, blackmailed, and kidnapped, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. There were a total of 73,201 Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Sierra model cyborgs in existence. Alpha models were the earliest, Sierra models were the latest. Astor was a Sierra.  
  
Jake knew that his personal feelings played no part in this decision. He needed Astor to back him up on the rescue up any way he cut it. Gohan was unreliable at best, being an 11-year old boy unaccustomed to the brutality he was going to encounter on board that ship. Supposedly, all cyborgs had a perfect track record, except for number eight that went insane and killed or maimed nearly all of the design team. Needless to say, a few vital changes were made to cybernetic programming.  
  
Jake punched the twelve-digit access code into the keypad and a half second later the cold storage device came to life. Gears and servos came to life and the temperature regulator began to thaw the frozen Astor. All subjects were placed into cold storage immediately after surgery. The nanomachines operated equally well in hot and frozen environments, but better repaired a body in freezing conditions. Jake could have awoken Astor nearly a month ago, he had just elected not to.  
  
He backed up a few steps as the chamber door rolled back. A completely bald, naked, and huge man walked out of the chamber. He was certainly well built, standing at about 6'4. A serious, angular face was set atop a hugely muscular frame that was deeply and evenly scarred. The scars seemed to fade before his eyes. Besides being bald and naked, his skin was a reflective silver. In fact, it wasn't skin at all.  
  
Gamma and Sierra model cyborgs had their natural skin replaced in favor of an energy reflecting polymer, built by nanomachines that were inserted into the patient's body. It was tougher and more protective than any organic skin could hope to be. An interesting feature that was adding was camouflaging. The individual's skin would change to match the location in which he was present. Astor's skin changed from a reflective silver to the dull grey of the deck plating beneath his feet.  
  
It took Astor's face recognition program a few moments to identify the man standing before him. A couple of hours of recovery time would be needed before all of his systems became fully operational. When the program found a match, Astor addressed the man standing before him.   
  
"Major Devaro," came the strangely inhuman voice, "thank you for bringing me online."  
  
Jake was a bit unnerved by the cyborgs toneless, lifeless words. He had met androids that sounded more alive than this, this thing.   
  
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, whatever. The reason I brought you out of that freezer is because I need you. If I didn't you'd still be in there. And just to set things straight, I don't like you, I don't like your kind. I think you are all a bunch of freaks who shouldn't exist. As long as you follow my orders, I won't kill you, understand me?"  
  
Astor spoke rather slow. "Sir, my ability to be hurt by your opinions has been greatly reduced by my cybernetic implants. I will follow your orders unquestioningly."  
  
Jake wasn't sure if that was sarcasm or not. He let it slide, mainly because the sight of this abhorrent creature was sickening.  
  
"Make yourself at home or whatever it is you cyborgs do. You'll be alerted when it is time for the briefing. Don't cause any problems." He turned to leave.  
  
"Major, should I not clothe myself?"   
  
"That's not my problem," Jake said as he walked out of the room.  
  
And so he left the naked, half frozen cyborg alone in the cargo chamber. It was going to be a long, long trip home. But as Jake thought about Astor, he wondered how Vegeta would respond to seeing a Saiyan like that, stripped of his pride, his passion, and perhaps even his soul. It would be interesting when he found out.  
  
  
[WW1]Delete this  
  



	24. The Lull

23  
11.4.43  
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System  
1900 Hours  
  
Wanderings  
  
"Hey Trunks, wait up!" came Eve's voice through the corridor. Her shout had interrupted his thoughts.  
  
Trunks turned to see the small blonde girl was jogging after him. He was glad it wasn't the doctor or Sabre, he didn't want to agitate them any further. For a brief second, he followed the bouncing of her ample breasts, then chided himself for doing so. It was wrong to do that, wasn't it?  
  
"Oh, hi Eve," Trunks said, a bit guardedly, not quite sure what she could want. He stopped walking and allowed Eve to close the distance faster.  
  
"Hey, I just came to say don't worry about before. We just had to work some stuff out. It's all good now."  
  
The vagueness in her description meant that something important had gone down, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. But he was glad that they weren't angry with him. The last thing he wanted was to be on the bad side of that incredibly powerful man.  
  
"So, Eve, where were you last night? My moth-, I mean Bul-," Trunks took a deep breath and started over. "We were worried about you when you didn't show up. Sabre said something about you being busy…"  
  
Eve gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I wasn't quite myself last night. But I'm better now. So what are you doing?"  
  
"Ah, I'm just kinda wandering around. There isn't much to do, and Bulma is all wrapped up helping with repairs. Man, my mother" A look of pain crossed his face.  
  
"You still miss her, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean, she's here and all, but she isn't the same. She's my mother, but not the woman that raised me. I feel bad leaving her behind. She's always alone and I'm the only one she has."  
  
Eve took Trunks's hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "I'm sure your mother would understand what you're doing. Don't feel bad about it, it's not your fault you have a kind heart."  
  
Trunks blushed a bit, he wasn't used to getting praise from anyone else than his mother. For some reason he was attracted to this girl. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt, he knew that he liked her. Gazing into her eyes he saw a kindred spirit, someone who could empathize with what he had gone through in his life. At the same time, her eyes betrayed something else, something hidden. What it was he would have to find out.  
  
"Hey, Jake gave me a tour of the ship earlier. I know where the observatory is, you wanna go?"  
  
"Uh, sure. But who's Jake?"  
  
Eve giggled. "C'mon, let's go, I'll tell you all about it."   
  
* * * * * * *  
  
A few decks below, the human trio, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien, were recovering after their first day of training. The Saiyans and Piccolo had recuperated quite fast, their superior physiologies well-adapted to intense training. The trio had managed to find the Bachelor Officer's Quarters and were sitting at a table in the empty room.   
  
Yamcha, sporting a large bruise on his neck, courtesy of Tien, was once again complaining.   
  
"I don't think I've ever fought for so long in my life. And why did you have to give me this?" Yamcha pointed to his neck as he directed the question to the three-eyed man.   
  
"If you had been paying attention instead of laughing every time Goku hit Vegeta I wouldn't have landed that kick."  
  
It was true. Yamcha was still *very* bitter over losing Bulma to that small, idiotic, arrogant, evil son of a bitch. What did he have that made him so special? He was a cold blooded killer! Seeing him get hit was every enjoyable for Yamcha, he just wish it occurred on a more regular basis, and by his own hands. Yamcha and Bulma never had an exactly stable relationship, but of all the men in the universe, *Vegeta*?  
  
"Well, you didn't have to hit so hard. We were just training."  
  
Tien smirked. "It got you to pay attention, didn't it?"  
  
Yamcha just huffed and sat back in his chair.  
  
"Well you guys, I think I did pretty good against Trunks. I managed to land a few good hits," Krillin said proudly.  
  
Tien couldn't resist the opportunity.   
  
"Yeah, in between gawking at Android 18." That got a laugh out of the sore Yamcha. He jumped at the chance to poke fun at the helpless bald man.  
  
"I bet you wish you were Sabre, don't you?"  
  
"Hey, at least I didn't lose to a midget Saiyan!"  
  
"Look whose calling who a midget, midget!"  
  
Tien interrupted before the harassing escalated. "Calm down you two. We're all friends remember?" The hot-headed men sat back in their chairs. "Besides, I think we all did good today. I think Goku was impressed."  
  
"I think Sabre was impressed too. We all put in our best didn't we?" Krillin asked optimistically.   
  
"I still don't know about that guy. He seems detached. You saw how he just broke 18's wrist, he didn't even look surprised. And Krillin, you looked like you wanted to kill him." Tien noted Yamcha's concern.  
  
"Well, Goku hasn't said anything, so I guess it's oaky. Except for hurting 18, he's been pretty much on the level, hasn't he?"  
  
"Yeah, he has. But we can't count on Goku in this situation. He's a great fighter, he's a great guy, our friend, but this situation is totally different. We have to remember, he hasn't had much experience with the outside world. And now we're dealing with the military."  
  
"Hey guys, want do you want to drink? Blue, Yellow, or Brown?" Krillin had made his way over to the unattended bar and was browsing over its contents. He couldn't read the labels, so naming them by color seemed to be the best way to identify them.   
  
Yamcha jumped at the chance for a drink. "I'll take a blue, it looks the least poisonous."  
  
"Uh, I guess I'll take a blue too."  
  
"Well then, three blues it is." Krillin disappeared below the to search for some glasses.  
  
"I see what you're saying. Man, I just hope this all works out. I don't want to die. Again."  
  
Yamcha laughed. "Yeah man, me neither. I don't think King Kai likes me that much. It's not my fault his jokes suck."  
  
"Don't let him hear you say that. He might smack you around a bit." Krillin's voice dripped with sarcasm as he walked back to the table, awkwardly carrying three large glasses filled with what he hoped was alcohol.  
  
All of them got a laugh out of that. The only thing dangerous about King Kai were his painfully unfunny jokes. He had also refused to teach them the Kaio-Ken or Spirit Bomb techniques. He mumbled something about humans being too weak, then started screaming at Yamcha when he put a huge dent in his car.  
  
"So guys, what should we toast to?" Yamcha asked.  
  
"How about humanity?" Krillin proposed.  
  
"The three clanked their glasses together and said in unison, "To humanity."  
  
The liquor, they were sure of that now, tasted terrible, burned on the way down, but filled their stomachs with a warm, glowing feeling. The trio talked for a while longer, their speech beginning to slur as the alcohol took affect. They didn't know that those drinks were usually injested by full-grown, 350 lb+ Saiyan males, and that the glasses Krillin had found, which resembled beer mugs, were used to hold virgin fruit drinks.   
  
"So, I'm walkin' around the mall right? Cruising the place for broads when I run into that damn woman. She's all up in my face screaming about this and that, and I seyz 'look bitch, get off my case! You don't know me! I'm a grown man! Go…go…' aw man, I forget!" The trio erupted into druken laughter as Yamcha told an obviously fictitious tale about running into Bulma at the mall.  
  
"Hey Tieny, buddy, guess what?" Krillin asked stupidly.  
  
"What?"   
  
The small man took three fingers and poked Tien in all three of his eyes. Tien's body registered pain, but he could hardly notice it through the alcoholic haze. Instead, he roared in laughter with the rest of them, eyes reddening with tears and unfelt pain.  
  
After catching his breath, Yamcha started up again. "Hey, hey, hey you guys…you ever notice Chaozu looks like a little clown? He's got them rosy little cheeks and that albino skin!"  
  
Tien found that especially hilarious. "Yeah, and that funny little hat and I can like, fit him in my pocket!"  
  
Once again, the three intoxicated men shook with laughter, picturing the site of Tien stuffing tiny little Chazu into his pants. Tien got a wicked idea. "Hey, let's try and stuff you into my pants!" he said, pointing at Krillin.  
  
"Wha? Me? Uh…okay!" he cried enthusiastically.  
  
Each of them tried to stand up, and each, in turn, fell to the ground immediately. Yamcha began to vomit heavily, spattering his stomach contents all over the floor and his clothes. After managing to stand, they totally forgot the reason why the rose from the chairs.   
  
Yamcha, still holding his stomach, thought a song was in order.  
  
An old but fitting Earth song floated into Krillin's mind.   
  
"War!" He shouted.  
  
With huge smiles, the other two recognized the song.  
  
In unison, painfully out of key, they began to dance about, singing the song to music heard only in their heads.   
  
"War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin' Say it again! War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!…"  
  
The ancient lyrics could be heard by passerby's in the corridor, who were too busy and afraid to find out exactly what was going on in there. In time, the no more sound emanated from the room. If one was to peer in, they would find the three humans comically passed out in various positions in the room. Luckily, none of them went into alcohol-induced comas, but when they woke up they would be in so much pain that a coma would be preferable.  
  
Goku, meanwhile, was with Chi-Chi and Bulma, who were working side by side in engineering. By some freak of nature, Chi-Chi had become a surprisingly useful engineer. Now decked in green coveralls, she had all but forgotten her family and was working diligently with Bulma, Vrakan, Transa, and a handful of other technicians on rerouting two melted plasma relays.  
  
Vegeta had followed Goku to engineering supposedly to 'keep an eye on his mortal foe' but was spending more time eyeing Bulma and making snide remarks than anything else. He had always admired Bulma's brain, along with her fantastically proportioned body, and he was fiercely proud of her. However, in typical Vegeta fashion, the only things to come out of his mouth were insults and patronizing remarks. No one paid much attention to him.   
  
"So Chi-Chi, almost done reparing the plasma thingy?" Goku asked hopefully.  
  
Chi-Chi responded with her head buried inside a wire casing. "I told you Goku, we're rerouting plasma conduits, and I'm not sure how long it is going to take. Transa, give it some juice."  
  
"Alright. Bulma, keep an eye on the readout, if it goes over 320 we have to shut it down." The Danti began to feed the plasma through one of the rerouted conduits. Chi-Chi removed her head from the casing and walked over to where Bulma was watching the readout.  
  
"250…275…285…290…looks like it is holding steady at 290. I think we did it."  
  
Chi-Chi let out a sigh. "Well, that only took about five hours."  
  
The edge in Vrakan's voice worried them. "Hold on…it is still fluctuating. Transa, what's the output say?"  
  
"It reads oh five mark three…but, aw crap."  
  
"Uh guys, it's at 300 now…damn it, it jumped to 350. Shut it off!" Bulma said with rising uergency.  
  
"Cutting power. Damn that was a waste of an afternoon," Transa groaned. He and Vrakan huddled over a console and tried to figure out what went wrong.   
  
Chi-Chi looked back into the wire casing. "Uh, guys, it looks like the plasma ate through some of the circuitry. We're gonna need…three short yellow wires, a long black one, and whatever this is." She pulled out a small, half-melted cube.  
  
"Awww, does this mean you gotta go back to work?" Goku whined.  
  
"I'm sorry honey, it looks like it. Hey, now you know how I feel when you and your friends are out training all day. You're just going to have to wait."  
  
"Hey Vegeta, could you pass me that palm pad?" Bulma asked.  
  
"Hmph, get it yourself, woman!" Vegeta just wanted to stare at her cute butt as she stomped over to get it.  
  
"I swear Vegeta, you are the most useless man I know. At least Yamcha pretended to be helpful!"  
  
Vegeta roared at the insult. "What, you dare compare me to that weak, pathetic, worthless excuse for a man?!"  
  
It was Bulma's turn to enjoy the sight of her mate's anger. He was so hot when his muscles and veins bulged. She couldn't help but become slightly aroused at the sight of his ripped, powerful body. "If only he wouldn't act like this all the time," she thought wistfully, "then I'd actually be able to live with the man. Why can't he just let his guard down once and a while?"  
  
"What are you staring at?" Vegeta's voice startled her from thought.  
  
"Oh…noth, nothing. Go away, I have work to do."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Well, I guess I'm gonna go wander the ship. Maybe I can find something to eat." Goku kissed his wife on the cheek and turned to leave. Chi-Chi planted her hand on his shoulder and spun the fleeing man around.   
  
"Make sure Gohan isn't getting into any trouble," she said, pointing a finger at him. "If he breaks anything, I'm holding you responsible. Besides, I still don't trust that Piccolo."  
  
"Yes dear," Goku responded sheepishly.  
  
"Isn't that cute, Kakkarot is whipped!" Vegeta sneered.  
  
Chi-Chi shot a glance at the Saiyan Prince. "What was that?"  
  
Vegeta considered making a comment, but relented instead. "Nothing, woman."  
  
Chi-Chi turned back to Goku only to see his legs round the exit into the corridor.  
  
"Aren't you going to follow your 'mortal enemy'?" Bulma asked the scowling Saiyan.  
  
"I'd rather watch you break some more of this fancy equipment."  
  
"Fine then, you can help fit some of the stuff you broke."  
  
Vegeta groaned and made a feeble protest, but was inwardly glad as it gave him a chance to be near her, not matter how infuriating the woman may be. "Maybe I should break things more often…" The Saiyan Prince grinned at the thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Piccolo and Gohan were having a grand time on their own, meditating. After Gohan tired of that he and his large green friend began to meander about the ship, looking for things of interest. They found Trunks and Eve in the observatory, chatted for a bit, then continued on their way. Needless to say, Gohan did most of the talking.   
  
But the Namek had noticed a difference within the human girl. Her energy signature was different, augmented in some way. He shot Trunks a glance, who responded with a knowing look. They didn't suspect anything sinister, rather it was mysterious. But Piccolo said nothing to the boy, knowing he would start asking questions and never stop.  
  
While they continued on their way they happened to find Goku, who was thoroughly lost.  
  
"Hey dad, what are you doing around here, I thought you were with mom."  
  
"I don't know son. I was hungry, so I left your mother to her work. I took a wrong turn somewhere on deck 72, I think."  
  
Piccolo sighed. "Goku, there is no deck 72. There are only 52 decks on this ship."  
  
The jovial Saiyan laughed. "Well, that explains it!"  
  
"Goku, you'd better stick with us. We wouldn't want you to walk out of an airlock or anything like that."  
  
"Sure, Chi-Chi sent me to find you guys anyway. She doesn't want you two to cause any trouble. Besides, she and Bulma were fixing some plasma thingys. It was SO boring."  
  
"Hey dad, can we go find Krillin? I think he said he was going with Yamcha and Tien to the…" Gohan's voice trailed off as he thought of the name. "BOQ."  
  
"Barbecue! Great! I'm starving!" Gohan exclaimed.  
  
Piccolo groaned and shook his head. "No Goku, the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. It's like a bar."  
  
"Oh," Goku seemed somewhat disappointed. "Well, I can always go for a drink. Maybe they have buffalo wings."  
  
Piccolo sighed, again, and Gohan chuckled. "C'mon dad, I think it's this way."  
  
Father, son, and Namek began to make their way to the BOQ. On a different deck, halfway down the ship, Android 18 was sitting against a corridor wall. She was deep in thought, head between her knees, pondering her existence as a sentient being. Earlier in the training room she had been deeply embarrassed by that damn stupid human.  
  
While they had been sparring, she made occasional glances at the small, bald man whom she was deeply fond of. Once in a while she would catch Krillin looking at her, then see him get pummeled by Trunks when his focus was shifted. 18 was disappointed that she didn't have the chance to spar with whom she wanted and was considering asking Jake for a partner swap.  
  
Then he broke her wrist. Out of the blue he had completely shattered it, nearly blinding her with pain. Never before had she felt anything like it, but the biggest surprise was when she looked at her arm. Mixed with blood was some kind of lubricant, and protruding out of the broken skin were metallic fragments and sliced wiring.   
  
She also saw how Krillin had looked at her, his face contorted with anger and surprise. Unlike the others, who were simply shocked, he had cared. Unfortunately, it drew attention to her body, and how different it really was. She was ashamed of it. Sure, being anatomically perfect looked good, but beneath the human exterior was a myriad of wiring, a neosteel skeleton, microelectronics, servos, and inorganic fluids. She wasn't like everyone else.  
  
What exactly was she? She wasn't a true android, she knew that much. Androids didn't have functioning, organic systems. She had muscular, circulatory, endocrine, nervous, and limited digestive system. All if which were augmented in some way with technology. She also had a reproductive system, androids didn't reproduce. A cyborg…was that what she was?  
  
18 shuddered at the thought. Neither woman nor machine, she was an artificial combination of both. What did that mean? Did she have a soul? Could she truly love? Was she real? All of these unanswered questions left her feeling despondent and alone. There was no one else like her. Would, could, Krillin ever love her?  
  
A lone tear slowly fell down the pretty girl's cheek as she thought of the lonely prospect. She brought her head up to wipe the tear away, 18 found herself staring at a huge, hairless, gray, naked man. 18 pulled herself to her feet and instantly sprung back 15 feet down the corridor, slipping herself into a fighting stance. The large man didn't move, but he asked her something that caught her off guard.  
  
"Why are you crying?"  
  
Surprised, she still managed a hostile response. "That's none of your business. And I wasn't crying."  
  
The man tilted his head to the side and blinked, but said nothing.  
  
"Who are you?" 18 asked the strange man.  
  
He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to respond. "I was once called Astor. Now, my official designation is Cyborg Sierra 421 Mark Three. You may call me whatever you wish."  
  
18 was taken back. This man was a cyborg? Who created him? Where was he from? What was he doing here? She only managed to stutter out the words, "You're, you're a, a, cyborg?"   
  
"Yes. As are you. But I have never seen your model before. Are you a new model? I was unaware they had designs advanced as yours in production. Who operated on you?"  
  
Relaxing her fighting stance, she couldn't help but respond. "Dr…Dr. Gero."  
  
Astor paused for a moment. "That name is not familiar to me, and he is not listed in any of the Coalition's data banks. You must be one of the new arrivals from Earth. Strange…you remind me of a woman I once knew…"  
  
Silence hung in the air like an almost tangible specter. 18 had no idea how to respond to that comment, and Astor simply stood there, oblivious to the awkwardness.   
  
Again he spoke, " Do you know where I can find some clothes?"  
  
"Uh…no, no I don't."  
  
"Very well then." Astor began to walk towards her, proceeding down the corridor. He paused when he was abreast of her. "You should not cry, it does not suit you," then moved on.   
  
The entire situation was immensely strange. A huge, naked man meets her in the corridor, turns out to be a cyborg, compliments her, then moves on. He was a cyborg…but nothing like her. It seemed like he had lost most of whatever had been his personality. His voice, demeanor, and aura was that of a machine. She was reminded for an instant of Android 16. She slumped against the corridor, overcome with emotion for her fallen comrade. 18 once again fell into deep thought, trying to discern the meaning of her existence. If only she knew how futile the effort would prove to be.  
  
************  
  
On the bridge, Jake took stock of the situation. Everything was running smoothly. In fact, his presence wasn't even required on the bridge. The core crew of the ship was quite experienced and fully manned, with the exception of the captain. When he was killed in dry-dock, there was no one to replace him, save for his XO, Jenneson. The lieutenant commander was well liked amongst the crew, and proved to be capable leader. If not for the special nature of this mission, he would be in command of the ship.  
  
"Major?" The XO asked.  
  
Jake realized with some embarrassment that he had been staring at the man for the past few minutes. Lost in his thoughts, he had fixed upon the XO's position.   
  
"Er, nothing Jenneson, carry on."  
  
"Aye, sir."  
  
His thoughts turned to the mission at hand. Formulating a plan was rather easy, but many, many things could go wrong in its execution. There was nothing that could be done about it though, since planning for the unknown was nearly useless. All they had was a plan of entry and a plan of exit, and even those were subject to change. Everything in the middle was left up to fate or happenstance. His worst fear, however, was that by the time they met at the rendezvous they would find only a ghost ship.   
  
That thought caused a knot to form in his stomach. Finding her dead would be…like finding his family all those years ago. Jake had to clench is fists and grit his teeth to keep from letting out a roar of anger. But the anger soon passed and was replaced with dread, an overwhelming sense of dread. He had to get off the bridge, and now.  
  
"Jenneson!" he inadvertently shouted.  
  
"Yes sir?" he said as he came to attention.  
  
Jake, lowering his voice, continued. "You have the bridge, I'll be in the chamber." Before Jenneson could respond he turned and transmitted himself to the empty chamber. Since it was not in use, the room was utterly dark and the autolights had not come on since he did not enter through the doors. The faint sound of footsteps could be heard as he made his way to the center of the deserted chamber.   
  
He was comforted greatly by the darkness. Ever since he was a child, he had always felt reassured when in total blackness. It had never scared him in the least, if anything, it made him curious. After all, there was nothing in the dark that wasn't there in the light. His eyes were useless in the absence of light, so he closed them and tried to focus on the emptiness around him. He had found that in doing so it often brought him peace of mind.  
  
Not bothering to hover or sit down, Jake simply stood in the middle of the seeming nothingness, focusing on it's all-consuming sensation. But his mind would not rest. It raced with what-if scenarios, worries of what may go wrong, and…her. He could picture Resa in his mind's eye, her shimmering black hair, those twinkling jade eyes, her immensely powerful body, he could almost feel her there next to him. They had only been apart for less than two months, but it seemed like an eternity. All those cliches he had heard throughout his life about love seemed to take on a whole knew meaning now.   
  
His mind began to settle at last, lost in the memories that came flooding back to him. The only thing missing was that one year when he had been recruited by Blue Six. Absolutely nothing after the last night in the Arena or before his recovery in the Blue Six medical ward could be remembered. But it was best not to dwell on that. Instead he focused on the early years, when he had first met Resa. She was so innocent then, unlike himself. Being human and spending most of his later childhood in an orphanage had caused him to be self-sufficient. For years after Vertana Prime he had nightmares, and they had tormented him every night up until the day he met her. The past, or at least, the past he wanted to remember was comforting. It was just he and Resa, and they were happy.   
  
Jake's eyes snapped open. That feeling had returned again. Even after all these years, he could remember it distinctly. It was the same feeling he had the night of his transformation. He could swear those eyes were staring at him again, burning a hole into his soul, paralyzing him with fear. This time, however, it was different. He tried to fight back. His mind began lashing out at the invisible demon, trying to free itself from the monster's icy grip. For a second, a brief second, their minds touched.   
  
Jake had never known such terror in all his life.  
  
------------------------  
  
And there is the end of Chap. 24. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments. Your reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh, and check out the Chap. 23 lemon scene, if that thing suits your tastes. I hope you like this little cliffhangar, and I can gaurantee I have a few surprises in store for you all. --Epsilon 


	25. Read this

Hello all! For anyone who remembers this little fic, I've started work on it anew. It's posted here on ff.net, under the title Tycho v101. It'd be nice to get my fan base back, and expand it ever further. You can read this version and the new one to compare how much my writing and storytelling has improved.  
  
Contact me at arclight@uga.edu, or JayC585 on AIM.  
  
I am a whore for feedback, good, bad, or otherwise.  
  
--Epsilon2 


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